Guardians of Fate
by bashipforever
Summary: BA After Chosen (BTVS) and Destiny (Angel) Complete! My way of righting some of the wrongs the rightful owners of BA did to them.
1. The Book of the Guardian

Wesley poured over one of the ancient texts stacked on and around his desk. He'd been at it for hours with only a pageful of notes to show for it. As he re-read a particular passage in Sumerian his eyes widened in surprise. Of course! How could he have missed this before? It was the final puzzle piece in the jumble of notes he'd taken. He furiously scribbled some more, pausing to chew on the end of his pen and then tossed his glasses onto the desk.  
"Eureka!" He exclaimed as he stood up and rushed out of the office. He made it as far as the door before he thought to turn back and retrieve the book that had been such a source of eureka. He gathered up the old text, along with a couple of others before walking out the door again.  
The offices of Wolfram and Hart were in their usual Monday morning chaos. The cacophony of voices and phones seemed to all blend into one sound. Wesley took the elevator up to Angel's penthouse on the top floor of the building.  
Angel had taken to spending more time up there lately, brooding no doubt. "As if he needed more practice." Wes could almost hear Cordelia saying. He winced inwardly, chiding himself. He promised to go see Cordy in her special medical wing once he'd told Angel his findings. He hadn't been as faithful about his visits as of late. There had just been so much to do since taking over Wolfram and Hart.  
Wes knocked softly on the door. There was no answer. He pushed against the door lightly and it opened. Angel was sitting near the window deep in brood mode. Somehow it was made slightly less effective by the bright sunny day the necro tempered glass allowed Angel to sit in.  
"Angel," Wes said in his soft voice.  
Angel turned, somehow managing to look surprised even though Wes knew his vampiric hearing had given him ample warning of his approach, unless he was really in deep brood mode. "What's happened?"  
"Nothing, nothing. Rather I've got some information I believe, at least something I think will interest you." Wes paused and seemed to consult his notes. He was actually gathering his words. Angel didn't know about this particular branch of his research. "I've been doing some extra research on the shanshu prophecy since the incident with Spike and the cup."  
Angel winced and unconsciously touched the cut above his eye. He knew he still looked like hell. He could see it in the faces of his friends when they looked at him. The only satisfaction he got was that he knew Spike looked just as bad.  
"I've found some information that refers to a text. It's called The Book of the Guardian. I believe it might give us some more insight into the shanshu prophecy." Wes said.  
Angel looked up at Wes. Hope lit his eyes for a moment and then it burned low again, like the dusky embers of a fire. When he spoke his voice was flat and noncommittal, "Do you know where the book is?"  
"Actually, yes. It took a bit of research. I had to cross reference a book written in ancient Latin with one written in the Kartoth language and finally there was this one in Sumerian." Wes begin to rifle through the short stack of books he'd brought.  
"Wes, something today would be nice." Angel interrupted him.  
"Oh-yes. Well, it's in Galway, Ireland, or it was in the mid 18th century."  
  
Buffy sunk into the bed gratefully. She wanted to sleep for a week. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and struggled to sit upright. Giles would be called in a few minutes. He was like clockwork.  
At first Buffy had attempted making the nightly calls that had become a ritual. She had been horrid at the time conversions and tended to call at 3am Romanian time when she had intended to call at 7pm. Giles had taken over calling her now at an accustomed time. It was a time that was late for a normal person but just before bedtime for the slayer.  
Outside the moon silvered the green lush grass. Buffy could hear the ocean lapping at the coastline. She sighed. She thought she could stay here for a while. It was peaceful. It drove away the thoughts of ubervamps and hellmouths and vampires on fire.  
The phone rang, jangling her out of her reverie. She picked it up knowing it would be Dawn on the other end. Giles always let her call and talk to Buffy first. She was always bubbling over with things she'd researched that day or something Giles and she had discovered, perhaps something Willow had done or a place they had all gone and seen. Buffy missed having her nearby but she and Giles and Willow were doing important work and Dawn was Giles' first official watcher in training.  
"Ok here's Will. I don't think she has anything new to tell you but she wants to talk anyway."  
Buffy smiled as her best friend came over the crackling international line. "How's it go, Will?"  
"Oh, you know, its going I guess. I'm learning Romanian. I don't know if Giles' lessons are finally kickin in or it's just from reading so much of it. Nothing new yet, but I'm sure I'll make some progress."  
"Thank you, Will. You know how much this means to me. I appreciate the time your spending there. I know it's not easy. How's Kennedy?" Buffy asked.  
There was a silence for a moment before Willow spoke. "Oh, well. She went to stay at the house with Faith and the other girls."  
"Will, I'm sorry." Buffy said, somehow feeling guilty.  
"No. Really, it's okay. I mean, we talked and it's what's best. It's what we both wanted. Besides she's getting to be pretty good and I think Faith and Wood could use her for a student teacher or something."  
Willow and Buffy talked for a few more moments before the phone was handed over to Giles.  
"How is Willow, really?" Buffy asked the watcher.  
"She's holding up well. She's doing a phenomenal job here. I work with her a bit everyday focusing her magic and to be frank she's far outclassed any help I can give her, but I think she likes to humor me."  
"I miss you all. How much longer do you think it will be?" Buffy asked, anxiety tinged her voice.  
"I'm not sure really. We've got excellent resources here, but as Willow mentioned a lot of it is in Romanian and mine is rather rusty. We're muddling through though and I hope to have something soon. How are things on your end?"  
Buffy smiled. She relaxed back into the pillows. "Maureen is the best I've seen so far. She's a natural. I don't tell her that of course because she's got the attitude to go with it but she's going to be really good. I'm anxious for you to see her. I think you'll agree."  
"Perhaps soon I'll be able to make a trip out there. If not I'll see you at the school in San Bernardino. Willow has found something she wishes me to examine. I'll talk to you again tomorrow."  
"Alright, goodnight Giles."  
Once the connection was broken the loneliness seemed to flood the room again, like the fog rolling off the ocean. It was cold and damp here. Buffy snuggled into the bed and snuck a well worn, much loved leather jacket from beneath her pillow. It was one of the very few possessions she'd brought from Sunnydale, or rather the crater formerly known as Sunnydale.  
She inhaled deeply. It was silly she knew, but after all these years she imagined it still smelled like him, cool, clean soap and cinnamon and something else uniquely his.  
-"I mean you look cold." "Keep it. It looks better on you."-  
Outside it begin to rain softly and Buffy fell asleep, her face buried in the jacket.  
  
Angel went over his itinerary one last time. He glanced up as someone came for his luggage. There wasn't much really. If he decided to stay longer then intended, or if things didn't go as planned, he could always purchase what he needed. There were a few special considerations, like the large cooler filled with dry ice and blood bags. Harmony had assured him several times that the small villa he was staying in would also be stocked with blood. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave his food arrangements with Harmony but there was too much to be done before he left to do it himself.  
Wes knocked and walked in. "Are you certain you wish to do this yourself? We have extraction teams that retrieve artifacts for us all the time."  
"I'm sure, Wes. I've never flown before. It was too dangerous. Having a personal jet circumvents many of those dangers, especially one with necrotempered windows. Besides I haven't seen Ireland in a long time. It will be nice to go.home." The last word was barely a whisper.  
Wes nodded. "You'll give us a call then if anything untoward happens."  
Angel nodded, engrossed in his last minute details.  
"Very well then. I'll accompany you to the airport and fill you in on the last minute details I've discovered about the book."  
  
Angel sat nervous in the plane. It seemed more like a well appointed penthouse then a jet. Everything was black leather and silver gray carpet. There was good sized bathroom with a shower and a small bedroom. There was a TV with a DVD player in the main cabin. He had a myriad of objects spread out in the seat beside him.  
There were packs of gum Fred had insisted he chew during take off and landing. It was to keep his ears from popping she said. Then she had launched into an explanation of how that happened and had lost him somewhere.  
There was dramine and books from Wesley and a Game boy from Gunn with something called Tetris.  
He was surprised by the takeoff even though the pilot warned him over the intercom. He found himself giddy as he watched the ground, through necrotempered glass, fall away beneath him.  
Angel howled in delight as his ears begin to "pop" and he vigorously chewed on a stick of cinnamon gum. Once they were in the air a woman came through offering a drink or some blood. For nostalgia's sake he chose Irish whiskey, a glass of Midleton one of the finest Irish whiskeys made.  
The remainder of the trip was pleasant. Angel slept some of the way, flipped through Wes' books and unsuccessfully tried to turn on Gunn's game boy. He'd eventually leaned back with his own book of 18th century poets.  
  
The pilot let him know as they were preparing to descend. He popped a stick of cinnamon gum in his mouth and watched with trepidation as the ground rushed toward him.  
At the airport a limo drew as close to the jet as possible. Angel waited until his luggage had been taken to the car. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his long leather duster and pulled it over his head before making a mad rush to for the car. Once inside he got a chance to observe how Galway had changed since his last visit and was delighted that in many ways it had not.  
  
The villa was small. That suited Angel's purposes. As per instructions, heavy black velvet drapes had been drawn over each window and outside door. There was no staff. He could do his own housekeeping. He checked the refrigerator. It was stocked with more then enough blood. He opened a bag and poured it into a mug. He placed the mug into the microwave and paced the kitchen.  
There were still a few more hours before sunset. Once night had fallen Angel would go to work contacting people and finding out what he could about The Book of the Guardian.  
  
Buffy watched the young girl from her perch on the mausoleum. She clutched a stake in her hand, prepared to jump in if needed. She really didn't think it would be necessary though.  
The girl was having fun. A look of pure glee crossed her freckled face as she threw a roundhouse punch and the fledging vampire stumbled back.  
"Don't get to cocky Maureen, I know he's young but he's still strong." Buffy yelled advice.  
Maureen just laughed and tossed her copper curls out of her eyes. She launched a sidekick that caught the vamp in the solar plexus and threw him backwards, shattering a gravestone as he fell.  
Maureen was instantly upon him, shoving a stake through the dead thing's heart before it could gasp.  
"Where's the next? That was fun now, wasn't it?' Maureen said.  
Buffy jumped nimbly from her perch. "Very nice but you took to long. You were playing with him."  
-"Stake and plunge, stake and plunge"-  
Buffy smiled as a very English Giles' words came back to her. "He was just a fledgling. Vampires grow more powerful with age. They also pick up more fighting skills. They become quicker, stronger, and more cunning. You have to be on guard. His Sire could be waiting around here somewhere, waiting for him to rise."  
Maureen's green eyes lit up. "Ye want me to patrol the north end, o'er there by the hedge then?"  
Buffy tried to conceal her smile. She appreciated the girl's enthusiasm. "No I think that's enough for tonight. Let's head back and get you in bed. Xander wants you up early in the morning."  
Once Buffy had seen that Maureen was in bed she slipped out of her own room and down to some ruins near the ocean she'd found. She hadn't seen any vamps around but she liked the place. It seemed peaceful somehow, and familiar. 


	2. Chance Meetings

Title: Chance Meetings (second chapter of Guardians of Fate)  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them.  
  
Angel got back into his rented car and drove around the narrow streets of Galway. Some of them were still cobblestone. He parked in one of the multi story parking garages and walked around the city. It was amazing to him how much had stayed the same in the last two hundred and fifty years. There were more changes then naught but he hadn't expected to recognize it at all.  
He stopped still and peered in the darkness to his left. That was it. The alley where he'd died, or rather Liam had. The alley where Angelus had been born and a reign of terror some hundred years long had started. He shuddered as guilt racked his body and noticeably stooped his shoulders.  
Angel had known coming back to Ireland would be hard. He hadn't been prepared to see the faces of those he'd killed in every shadow, every corner. He had borrowed a book on Galway history. It attributed the virtual annihilation of the entire village in 1753 to a plague.  
He supposed Angelus had been as much a plague as anything was.  
  
A few nights later he was surprised to find it was still there, at least what was left of it was still there. He parked the car down the hill and walked up the gentle slope. If he'd had a beating heart he was sure it would have stopped. His father's farm was in shambles. There were a few walls left he could see, a couple of doorways and the chimney. Where his mother's garden had once grown was now a tangle of weeds and wildflowers.  
He tread slowly through what had been the front door. Ghosts from his past rushed all around him, tugging at his clothes, pulling him back in time. His body tingled and his gut wrenched.  
"Liam! Are you an angel?"  
"Aye, Kathy my love. Now let come in love."  
She had stepped back and looked at him with such trust. "Hurry, come in. Father is in the study."  
And he had come in and slaughtered them all, starting with his little sister, Katherine.  
He pulled up short when he saw her there. He'd expected to see many ghosts in Ireland, but not her. She was standing outside underneath an ancient willow tree, near the family burial plot. Her hair was silver from the moonlight and her skin glowed like moonlit marble. The fog rolled around her. If she'd been wearing gossamer he would have thought her an Irish nymph. She seemed out of place among the ghosts of his victims. It hurt more to see her though. At least the others had been victims of Angelus. Most of the pain he'd caused her had been while he was ensouled.  
  
-"You were born to hurt her. Have you learned nothing? As long as you are  
alive"-  
  
He walked toward her across crumbling paving stones that had once been a patio. He stumbled across the broken ledge of the boarded up well. She turned.  
"Buffy-"  
  
She closed her eyes. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't here. Yet he said her name as he always had, as if it were something reverent, sacred. "An-Angel?" She made it sound like an important question, instead of simply a name.  
He didn't speak again but stepped closer, wary. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at her feet. She was wearing a crème Irish sweater and a leather jacket that looked achingly familiar. He'd had no idea she'd kept it all these years.  
  
-"I mean you look cold." "Keep it. It looks better on you."-  
  
She reached out first. He still half expected her to be a ghost and disappear before she touched him. She laid her little hand on his chest. "Well, this an unexpected visit."  
"I-Wes-a book. I'm here to get a book." Angel finally said.  
"Because Heaven knows Wes doesn't have enough books in Los Angeles." Buffy quipped.  
Angel half smiled. She was nervous. She made quips when she was nervous.  
"It's a special book, The Book of the Guardian. Last reports place it somewhere in Galway in the mid 18th century." He said. For some reason it helped to know that he had caught her unaware too. "What are you doing here?"  
Buffy shrugged and broke eye contact. She returned it a moment later. "New slayer."  
"You're here alone?"  
"No. Xander is with me and for some reason, Andrew." She said.  
"Andrew?" Angel said.  
Buffy grinned. She could practically see Angel's hackles rise. "It's a long story. I don't even know why we keep him around, pity mostly, I think."  
"Oh,"  
An uncomfortable silence stretched into the night. Angel stuck his hands in his pockets and tried to keep from staring at her. It would have been easy to say something witty if he brain would get beyond processing 'She's beautiful.'  
"Soooo, out for a little exercise, just happened by this way or is there dire danger and you knew just where to find me?" Buffy broke the silence.  
He shook his head and glanced back at the ruins of the house. "This is-was- my father's house."  
"Ohmigod, I didn't know. I just thought it was some pretty ruins."  
"You're right. It is pretty. I never appreciated when I lived here. And the last time I saw it." he trailed off as the ghosts threatened to reclaim him.  
She shivered in the cold. He removed his own suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She smiled up at him. He could have sworn the sun was shining down on him.  
"You keep giving me your clothes, you're not going to have any left."  
"I didn't realize you had kept that." He nodded toward the leather jacket she was wearing.  
She shrugged. "When we made our plans to go into the Hellmouth everyone took a few small, prized possessions. I took this, Mr. Gordy and our family photo album." A look of grief passed over her features. "There was so much more I wanted to bring. Things of Mom's. There just wasn't room. Giles left half his book collection behind.Dawnie."  
"How is Dawn? I bet she's grown up since I last saw her." Angel asked.  
Buffy looked up at him. "You remember her?"  
Angel gave her a confused glance. "She chased me around your house with mirrors, fascinated because she couldn't see me in them. She's hard to forget."  
A memory clicked. She remembered Dawn doing that. She remembered Dawn bursting into her room and finding Angel there. She remembered Dawn threatening to tell Mom that Angel was in her room, again. Before Angel had mentioned it, she didn't have a single memory of Dawn and Angel together.  
"Oh, yeah, tired I guess. I'd forgotten she used to do that." Buffy scrambled. "Dawn is handling everything really well, better then I've given her credit for. She's with Giles. She wants to be a watcher and I think she'll be really good at it. She won't make some of the mistakes a lot of watchers make because she knows how hard being a slayer is."  
Angel smiled at her. She glowed with pride when she talked about Dawn. Buffy rubbed her arms as they walked through the ruins.  
"Do you want to go somewhere? My car is just down the hill." He said. "You just look cold."  
"Yeah. Somewhere inside, right?"  
Angel grinned at her. "Yes. I've got a house I'm staying in a little ways from here."  
  
Once they were inside confined walls, he wasn't sure it had been such a good idea to put both of them in the same room. His body and soul screamed out for him to touch her. His blood would quit boiling and his head would stop aching if he could just kiss her. He knew that wasn't true though. They couldn't kiss without it growing into more, and quickly.  
  
-"Let me worry about the neediness. I can handle it"-  
  
-"I told you, you better go"-  
  
-"I'm sorry"-  
  
Instead he busied himself making a fire. Buffy inched closer to it as the flames started. He looked over at her. "I don't have much in the house. I wasn't planning on visitors or I'd have bought things. I think there's some coffee or tea, but no milk or sugar." He said apologetically.  
"And hey, it's not really tea without milk. It's okay, really. I'm not thirsty."  
That was a lie, she thought. Every time she looked at him her mouth went dry. Had he always been this beautiful? When she had seen him so briefly before the battle with the first, she hadn't had time to concentrate, to take it all in it had been such a shock to see him. A nice shock, but a shock.  
Buffy backed away from the fire and sat down on the couch. Angel perched on the opposite end.  
"Tell me what you've been doing. I've enjoyed the postcards but you never said much."  
"It's a teeny space to write in?" She offered. "I've been busy, or we have. Once the dust settled, literally, we had to find some place to put these girls. We also had a lot more find. Wood, my old boss, his mom was a slayer, another long story, anyway the guy who raised him left him some kind of ranch in San Bernardino. It has this big house with lots of room. We moved the girls in there. It was home base for a little while."  
Angel tried to disguise the hurt look that came over his face. She'd been that close and hadn't felt she could come to him. He waited to hear her out though.  
"Giles and Willow found this spell that the council used to help them find potentials. They altered it a little bit and used it. Our first new slayer was in Switzerland. I think I sent you a post card from there. Then we went to England, which was Giles Heaven and Rome. Giles and Willow are in the middle of something right now, so when we found a new slayer here, they sent me and Xander."  
"I have a hotel, Buffy, and an evil law firm. I could have provided room for everyone." Angel said.  
"You have a what and a what?" She looked at him. Apparently he had begun to speak a foreign language mid sentence because there was no other explanation for what she'd heard.  
He laughed. It felt good. "You've got your long stories I have mine. When my old office blew up I bought an old hotel. We had the investigation business there for a couple of years. This evil law firm that represents every evil being on this planet has been on my tail since I moved to LA. They decided I was more trouble then I was worth and pulled up their roots, leaving me their building and all their resources. So now I run a law firm."  
"Oookay, that's going to take me a little while to process, like the next twenty years or so."  
"Did Faith make it through the battle?"  
"Yeah. After the apocalypse Willow and I decided she'd sort of payed her debt so Giles called in some favors with who knows who and Faith's record doesn't exist anymore. She and Wood live in San Bernardino on the ranch with around 15 girls now. All slayers, thanks to Willow's nifty spell. She's in a good place. You'd be proud of her." Buffy glanced over at Angel.  
He nodded. "And everyone else?"  
"Like I said Xander is here with me. Anya." Buffy's face darkened and she pulled into herself. "She didn't make it through the battle. We didn't, there wasn't time to get the body. But, I sort of learned in Heaven the body really isn't the important part anyhow."  
Angel reached out and wiped the tears that had gathered on her cheeks. "It's the soul that counts."  
Buffy nodded, took a deep breathe and continued. "Giles, Willow and Dawn are busy getting things together for a new Watchers Council, of sorts. It won't be anything like the old one. Giles is going to be in charge. Slayers are never going to be pushed off into some flea bag hotel and then taken out when trouble comes along like a sword or gun. They forgot we're people too, and most of us really young girls when we first start. I was lucky, but most of the girls before me, and after, weren't."  
"You're doing a good thing then Buffy. You've got a mission and you're doing something that needs to be done. Wes would be fascinated by the spell Willow used to make all the potentials slayers. I can't even imagine the power it must have required."  
"Willow kicked butt. She really came through when I needed her. Now, I don't know if it was the right thing to do. I mean, because I am a slayer I missed out on a lot of things. I grew up fast. I don't get the luxury of shutting my eyes against the things that go bump in the night. I don't know if it was right for me to make these girls face that."  
"It will be different for them Buffy. They aren't the one and only. Neither are you anymore." The last he said quietly.  
"Does that make me somehow less of something in your eyes?" Buffy asked defensively.  
Angel just looked up at her. His chocolate brown eyes shown with adoration. He always could make her feel like she was the only one in the world. "It wasn't because you are a slayer that I fell in love with you. It's your heart, your soul. Those are unique to you, not part of the slayer package."  
She let out the breath she'd been holding and slumped back against the couch. "I know. I'm just being, I don't know. It's hard."  
His heart ached for her in a way only she had ever been able to make it ache. It made him forget he was a dead thing with a dead heart.  
"So tell me about this evil law firm your running now." 


	3. Catching Up

Title: Catching up  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
"Wow, so they just handed you the keys to this law firm along with everyone and everything in it?" Buffy asked. She looked stunned. Angel had spent the better part of a half hour telling her about Wolfram and Hart.  
  
"Well, there were some conditions but basically, yes."  
  
"What sort of conditions?" Buffy asked.  
  
He should have known Buffy of all people couldn't let something go. He wanted to tell her. He longed to share his memories of his son with anyone, but especially someone who would care.  
  
"About where Cordelia and your son are? Not a thing, but you could find out  
in about 10 seconds. All you gotta do is pick up the phone, boss."-  
  
-"Good. Just one more piece of business. I get to see him."-  
  
-You're the boss. There'll be a limo waiting outside. It'll take you to  
see Connor."-  
  
-"Who's Connor."-  
  
Buffy of all people would understand his decision. She'd made tough decisions for Dawn, like dying to save her. If it had been giving her to another family in order to give her a happier life, she would have done it.  
  
But he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell anyone, ever. He thought about the other part of the deal he'd made with Lilah.  
  
-"That nifty little bauble comes with the file. Apparently, it's crucial for some sort of final battle. Guess they're in short supply up Sunnydale  
way. A bit gauche for me but hey, not a slayer."-  
  
"The amulet I brought you in Sunnydale, and the file. They were one of my conditions." Angel said.  
Buffy grew quiet. "The amulet that killed Spike, plus about a thousand ubervamps and made a crater of Sunnydale."  
  
Oh, God, Spike. She didn't know he was alive. He'd figured Captain Peroxide would beat a path to the mailbox to send Buffy a letter. This really wasn't the time to discuss Spike, not that there was ever a good time in his estimation to discuss Spike. He promised himself he'd tell her, just not now.  
  
She brightened and smiled at him. "So that was your condition, what about theirs?"  
Angel shrugged. "We have to show a profit at the end of the year, which means I have to walk the line between good and evil a little closer now. We've done a lot of good already though."  
In truth, there were days Angel felt like he helped evil more then he did good. He knew it wasn't true, there were reports and statistics and all sorts of "evidence" to the contrary. It didn't change the feeling any. There were days he straddled a chasm and fought not to fall into the black depths below. He looked up at the golden haired child/woman sitting next to him on the couch, so close he could reach out and touch her, and the chasm wasn't so wide or so deep.  
She reached over to touch his hand. She'd forgotten how cool and perfect his skin was. Angel had remembered all to well how hot her touch was. She intertwined her fingers with his and they sat silently for a long while on the couch, watching the fire in the hearth consume everything within.  
  
She stretched languidly. It took a moment for her to realize she wasn't in her own bed or even her own room. Her instincts drove her into slayer mode for a few seconds before her brain caught up and remembered Angel. She must have fallen asleep last night. He would have carried her and tucked her into bed without ever waking her.  
  
She padded barefoot about the room, peeking into empty drawers. It took her all of five minutes to get bored in this room and move onto the hallway outside. The house was small. There was the cozy living room they had sat in last night. Embers of the fire still burned in the hearth. A galley sized kitchen with a breakfast nook was directly behind the living room. There was really very little in the cupboards. The refrigerator held a bottle of Irish whiskey and a plentiful stock of blood.  
The only door she hadn't explored behind had to be Angel's bedroom. She eased it open softly, half expecting him to be gone. The room was so dark it was difficult to make out the shadows. Buffy waited a moment to let her eyes adjust. When they did, she could help the gasp of all the air in the room being stolen.  
Angel lay on his back amid dark bed sheets. The top sheet was pulled down low around his hips. The darkness of the room and the bed only served to make the pale marble of his skin look more ethereal. He wasn't breathing, which while disturbing until you go used to it, was normal. During waking hours, Angel feigned breathing. It generally made the humans around him more comfortable. When he slept, truly and deeply, he forgot the habit of breathing and he looked more like a dead body then a living one, which she supposed he really was. To her he looked more like a statue carved from marble, something by Michelangelo, or the guy who had cut off his ear, or maybe it was his nose. She couldn't remember. During her short stint in college she'd taken an art class with Willow. Even then the statues in the pictures and slides had brought to mind Angel.  
She slipped into a wing chair next to his bed and sat in the darkness watching him. A little more then four years ago, he had walked out on her and insisted she give up any ideas of any sort of future between them. Tears still sprang to her eyes at the memory of him disappearing into the smoke, as if the past three years had been nothing but a dream, nothing more substantial then the smoke he'd walked into.  
  
-" I'm leaving. After the Ascension, after it's finished with the Mayor and  
Faith. If we survive, I'll go."-  
  
-"I'm not going to say goodbye. If we get through this, I'm just going to  
go."-  
  
She didn't realize she'd started crying until Angel was there crouched beside her.  
"Buffy, what's wrong? What happened?"  
She shook her head. "Nothing, really. Just-just old memories."  
  
Old memories of him hurting her. He knew without asking that was the source of her tears. Maybe it was egotistical or maybe it was the tie that bound them soul to soul. The tie that allowed her to sense him, even when he was human on the Day that Wasn't. Whatever it was he knew her pain was for him.  
  
-"You were born to hurt her. Have you learned nothing?"-  
  
He stood up and pulled a dark shirt on. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Buffy."  
She shot up out of the chair. "What wasn't a good idea Angel? We haven't even discussed anything remotely resembling a future. We haven't even kissed!You're running already? I think that's a record, even for you."  
She turned and stalked out of the room, out of the house and into the daylight, where she knew he couldn't follow her.  
  
He brooded around the house until it was a decent hour in Los Angeles and then called Wes.  
"Wes, did you know Buffy was going to be here?" he asked abruptly.  
"Buffy is there? In Galway?" Wes asked, truly surprised.  
"I guess that's a no. Buffy is here. I ran into her last night. We talked."  
"You didn't. I mean you still have you're-" Wes stammered.  
"I'm not evil if that's what your asking. I just wondered if you knew she was here before I got here." Angel snapped.  
"Angel, I would never presume to orchestrate such a thing. I have been in contact with Mr. Giles once or twice over the past few weeks but he never mentioned that Buffy was in Ireland, much less Galway."  
"Thanks Wes, sorry to bother you with this." Angel closed the cell phone and paced the house like a caged animal, waiting for sunset. His first instinct was to go after Buffy. He knew there were other things he should be doing though, like finding more information on The Book of the Guardian. He had found precious little so far. Several people, and demons, had confirmed the books existence but they didn't know if it was still in Galway, or if it was where it might be.  
He had to focus on the task at hand and for the moment that was finding the book. Perhaps it was better if Buffy left mad. He loved her. He would love her the rest of his very long life but unless he got his shanshu, during her lifetime, there was no chance of them ever having a future together. His curse made that impossible He knew she thought it about not being able to have sex with her, and yes that was a big part of it, but it was also just being with her. Sitting beside her on the couch the night before, listening to her laugh and talk and sound so much like the woman he'd fallen in love with he'd stopped once and made what he'd come to call his soul checks. He had to gage his happiness and make sure he wasn't to happy, that he wasn't approaching the perfect happiness threshold. It had been a daily activity that last year in Sunnydale. It had become an hourly one when Connor had been born.  
When Connor had been taken he had been sure he'd never come close to perfect happiness again. A few moments with Buffy had disproved that theory. 


	4. Reconcilation

Title: Reconcilation  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Buffy had left her shoes at Angel's house. She'd already run most of the way before she'd realized it. She'd walk over molten glass before she'd go back to his house to get them. They were her favorite boots too.  
Her voicemail was full of messages, two from Xander, one from Maureen, one from Giles and for some reason, six from Andrew. Buffy sighed. She wanted to disappear somewhere for the rest of her life. She knew they wouldn't stop worrying until she called though so she started with Xander.  
"Xander, it's me. I'm sorry. I found some old ruins and I lost track of time."  
She listened to Xander half heartedly. He promised to take Maureen out that night and give her a night off. "Thanks Xan, I'm going to call Giles. He left a message."  
"Yeah, I sort of called him when I couldn't find you." Xander said sheepishly.  
"God! What am I twelve? I went exploring. I lost track of time." Buffy shrieked. She made decisions all the time that affected the entire world. Decisions like sending Angel to hell, and taking a swan dive off a tower into a portal. Yet everyone around her wanted to make decisions for her, where she could go, how long she could be gone and what she could do while she was gone.  
"Sorry, Buff. I was worried. We still don't know much about the nightlife around here. I thought Giles should know you were missing."  
"I wasn't missing-you know, never mind. I'm just gonna call him." Buffy hung up the phone irritably. She hadn't meant to argue with Xander, or with Angel.  
She was sure it was an ungodly hour in Romania but she didn't care. She needed to talk to her best friend. She held herself together for the conversation with Giles and told him not to wake Dawnie. She'd talk to her later. "Is Willow up researching by chance?" Buffy asked, trying not to give anything away in her voice.  
The moment Willow's voice came on the line, Buffy broke. "Oh God Will. Please don't tell Giles. He's here, Will."  
Willow smiled cheerfully at Giles as she motioned to her bedroom. She made some bright, average comments. "Really? Oh Buffy, that's great." She shut the door behind her. "Buffy, who's there? What's wrong?" The concern was evident in her voice.  
Buffy spilled the entire story out to her, about the ruins of the house and Angel. "I felt him, inside, Will. I just thought maybe it was this place, that he had lived here. It wasn't. He was here."  
"Oh, Buffy. I take it things didn't go so well."  
"I thought they did. We talked most of the night and stayed behind all the safe boundaries. I didn't even kiss him. This morning he decided that 'this' was not such a good idea. I'm not even sure what 'this' is! Talking to me? Seeing me? Being in Ireland for all I know." Buffy broke down in fresh sobs. "Will loving him ever stop hurting Will?"  
Willow felt tears sting the backs of her eyes and wished she had an answer for her.  
  
Angel walked through the narrow, nearly hidden door of the pub. It smelled like whiskey, smoke and demons. He smirked in spite of himself. He supposed this was the Irish version of Willy's. There wasn't much difference really. He ordered a pint of O neg at the bar and asked about a demon name Marvin. The bartender, not of the human variety, pointed him to a tiny booth in the back corner.  
Angel slid into a greasy wooden booth across from one of the ugliest demons he'd seen in a long time. Marvin was pitifully ugly. Angel was pretty sure he was a cross breed of something. His skin was a sickly orange color and he was covered in pustules that closely resembled something rotting. He didn't smell much better either. Angel gladly dropped the habit of breathing after the first whiff of this guy.  
"You Marvin?" Angel asked.  
The demon looked up sullenly. "Who wants to know?"  
Angel let his game face flash for just a moment. "Angelus."  
The demon's sickly orange color faded to something resembling rotten apricots. "Uh-uh, yeah-yeah I'm-I'm Marvin. H-how can I help you, M-Mr. Angelus." He stuttered.  
"I'm looking for something called The Book of the Guardian. I've heard you might know something about it."  
"Oh, God. I-I really don't know much. I mean really. I-I just heard that some nuns or saints or something hid it. I don't even know what it does, honest!" Marvin sniveled.  
"I do. Where can I find it?" Angel was growing impatient. He'd wanted to scare the guy into helping him; he hadn't wanted to terrify him.  
"Uhm-I heard it was buried under, under the alter in one of the churches on Inis Meain. But th-that was in the 18th century. A tourist could have dug it up by now." Marvin had just begun to gather his wits about him.  
"For your sake, you'd better hope not."  
  
It was nearly sunrise when Angel returned to his house. Inis Meain was one of the Aran Islands. He had made arrangements for a private fishing boat to take him out there at midnight the next evening. The man had been suspicious but some cash slid into his hand had taken care of that. He walked into the kitchen and took a blood bag from the fridge. He bit into it and drank it quickly, cold. He walked back into the living room and his eyes fell upon them, her boots. They were high heeled, beige, impractical things that most women wouldn't be able to run in, but she wore them to slay in. They made him smile for a moment and then he remembered her running out of her, the things she'd said.  
He sat down on the couch with a sigh. The sooner he got out of the vicinity of Buffy the better. He might not see her, but he felt her and he knew she was close by. If he wanted to hunt her down it would take much of an effort. It was an internal, physical fight to keep from doing so.  
  
Angel slept very little during the day, when he did he had horrible nightmares. He dreamt of Buffy and making love to her and then ripping her throat out. He woke in a cold sweat, unable to go back to sleep. The dreams weren't new, in fact he'd had them many times before, and intellectually he knew it the demon in him eliciting what control it could while he slept. That didn't change how he felt about the nightmares.  
  
Angel arranged to have Buffy's boots sent to the bed and breakfast she was staying in. He packed and made travel arrangements. He planned to leave as soon as he had retrieved The Book of the Guardian. As nightfall approached, he knew he couldn't leave things the way they were with Buffy. It would haunt him and frankly, Angel was haunted by enough things, he didn't need the love of his life doing it also.  
  
He was right, hunting her down hadn't taken much of an effort. He watched Buffy and her new slayer train in the grave yard. She was right, the girl was good. He kept hidden in the shadows for awhile. He knew it wouldn't last long. Buffy kept glancing over her shoulder. She could sense him in almost the same way he'd sensed and tracked her.  
He stepped from the shadows just after the girl had slain a vampire. He was surprised to find himself being tackled by a flurry of red hair and flashing green eyes. In a simple defensive move, he'd thrown an arm up and tossed her away from him, his vamp face slipping into place. It dropped quickly when he heard Buffy scream "Maureen, No! God, no, it's Angel!" He was a bit surprised to hear just a tremor of fear in her voice.  
"Nae, really? Angelus, the one with the Angelic face." The redhead sized him up quickly. "Got that right in one I s'pose." She turned to Buffy. "'e's not evil is 'e?"  
"Why does everyone ask that? I'm _not_ evil." Angel protested.  
"So 'e's ye Angel?" Maureen arched an eyebrow in Buffy's direction.  
"He's-An-He's."Buffy struggled.  
"Yes, I'm 'her' Angel." He finished for her. He caught Buffy's eye and smiled that sweet, ear to ear smile reserved only for her. She actually felt the individual cells that made up her body melt together and puddle onto the grass beneath her.  
'Oi," Maureen said, catching the look between the two lovers. She dismissed herself without another word, wandering over to a crypt to sit and wait but staying where she could watch the scene that was about to unfold.  
  
Buffy took a deep breath before turning toward Angel. She both hated and loved that being near him threw her the way it did. Angel had ruined her for all other men. It had been the missing piece in her relationship with Riley, that and the fact that her heart and soul already belonged to someone else, Angel.  
"My Angel?" she asked finally, turning to confront those soulful deep chocolate, brown eyes.  
He scuffed his foot. "We've always had complications, Buffy. I mean I'm a vampire, you're a slayer, but somehow we seem to make it even more complicated then that. We've got separate lives but no matter what, through it all, I've always been your Angel. I always will be."  
  
-"Tell me you don't love me."-  
  
-"You still my girl?"-  
  
-"Always."-  
  
Buffy couldn't breathe. Her chest was imploding. She was fighting back tears.  
  
Angel wanted to kiss her. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Buffy, I couldn't leave things like they were between us. I wanted to apologize for this morning."  
Buffy wanted to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Angel, what happened? I thought we were having a good day, well at least a good day for us and then-What wasn't a good idea? Nothing happened."  
Angel sighed. "No, but I wanted it to. Nothing's changed, Buffy. When I'm around you the only thing I can think about is how badly I want to kiss you."  
"We'd want more. We'd only end up having to leave each other again." Buffy said, resigned. They'd gone over this more times then she ever cared to remember, most recently when she'd returned from heaven.  
Angel snapped his head up and looked at her, through her, a puzzled look on his face.  
  
-"If we let something happen here, we'd want more. And nothing's changed.  
We'd only end up having to leave each other again."-  
  
-"And that's the best case scenario."-  
  
-"Oh, boy. I was really jonesing for another heartbreaking sewer talk."-  
  
She couldn't remember, he thought. They'd promised she wouldn't remember. The Day that Wasn't was his burden to bear, his alone.  
  
Buffy sighed and turned away. If she was going to tell him there would be no better time. "Willow, Giles and Dawn are working on that."  
Angel looked up, his eyes wary. "Working on what?"  
"The curse. They are in Borsa, Romania. They found a guy who specializes in gypsy magic history. He's related to the Kalderash clan. Willow is working on a way to remove the happiness clause without removing your soul."  
"Does she think it's possible?" Angel asked, hope straining his voice.  
"Giles has done a lot of research into soul magic and he thinks it can be done. Willow just has to figure out how. She says it will take an extraordinary amount of power and she's still so unsure of controlling her power."  
"You'll keep in touch if she finds out anything?" Angel asked.  
Buffy turned to him with a grin. "Actually, I thought I'd contact Hogwarts first, and then the ministry of magic, but you're definitely third on my list."  
"Harry Potter?"  
"Ding ding ding, you've been brushing up on your pop culture references." She beamed at him.  
He didn't tell her that he'd bought the entire Harry Potter series for his son, which no one remembered now. The books were locked in a box with the rest of Conner's things in vault at Wolfram and Hart.  
"I've got to go get Wes' book. It should be simple recon, just have to avoid a human night watchman who's probably asleep anyway. Would you like to come with me?"  
Buffy laughed and took Angel's hand in hers. She hesitated a moment, that first touch sending tiny electric tingles throughout her body. "That's one of the things I always loved about you, Angel, the romantic places you take me."  
  
At midnight Buffy and Angel stood at the bow of the small fishing boat. It was running without its lights. They both wore black clothing and black watch caps. The fishing boat dropped them off in a rubber raft and anchored a hundred yards from the island.  
Angel rowed the short distance to the island and pulled the raft ashore. They ran half crouched into a ruined church. Buffy would have liked to stop and look around the stone building but Angel hurried her to the front of the church, where the alter would have been. They knelt on the stone floor.  
"I feel like I should say a prayer." Buffy whispered.  
"When I was a child we came here for festivals sometimes. They held mass in here."  
Most of the time it was easy to forget that Angel was two hundred and fifty years old, but occasionally he mentioned something from his rich and varied past that reminded her, he was immortal. As long as he stayed clear of sharp wooden objects and kept his head, he would live forever. And she wouldn't, Buffy thought. At 24, she was already one of the oldest slayers in history.  
Angel silently handed her a chisel. They started to work, gently prying up the stones just behind the ruins of the alter. The stones came up relatively easy. Underneath lay a bundle of linen, half covered in rocky black dirt. Angel lifted the bundle out of the earth, brushing some of the soil off and unwrapped the layers of Irish linen used to protect the ancient leather bound book. The gold leafing on the cover had worn off centuries ago.  
He carefully opened the book. The pages inside were yellowed with age and brittle with time. He was surprised to see it was written in Gaelic.  
"So this is your book?" Buffy asked in a whisper.  
"It looks like it. Let's get out of here before the watchman decides to make his rounds." Angel put the book in a bag and carefully replaced the stones of the floor. They didn't speak again until they were back on the fishing boat.  
"So why is this book so important that you came all the way from Los Angeles to Ireland for?"  
Angel looked down into the blackness of the water below. He had debated telling Buffy about the Shanshu prophecy so many times. It had taken every ounce of self control he'd learned in a hundred years not to drive to Sunnydale when he'd found out about it four years ago. It wasn't fair though, and it defeated the entire reason he'd left her. There was no date for the Shanshu. It might not happen in Buffy's lifetime. He didn't want her to spend the rest of her life hoping, waiting for him to become human so they could have the life together they both dreamed about.  
"Just something Wes is working on. I offered to come get it because I hadn't been here in so long. It was a good opportunity to visit."  
"Giles would like it. It looks old." Buffy observed.  
Angel chuckled. "Wes wasn't sure how old but it was buried in that church in the late 17th century by a nun."  
He walked Buffy back to the bed and breakfast she was staying in.  
"Come up for just a little while?" Buffy asked. "There are a few hours until dawn left."  
He hesitated but in the end agreed. Buffy's room was small. He took an unnecessary breath. The room smelled like vanilla, her scent. His gaze fell on the bed and he quickly looked away, right into Buffy's gray-green eyes. She blushed.  
  
-"Oh, two of us, one bed. That doesn't work."-  
  
-"and, uhm, keep your back turned while I change."-  
  
-"Do you snore?"-  
  
-"I don't know. It's been a longtime since anyone's been in the position to  
let me know."-  
  
Buffy cleared off the chair next to the bed so he could sit. She curled up on the bed across from the chair. She tucked one hand underneath her cheek. "Tell me about Ireland when you lived here. Tell me about the house when you lived there."  
Angel smiled that special half smile that Willow called Buffy Face. He leaned forward on his elbows and begin to tell her.  
Buffy struggled to stay awake as long as possible. Just before she gave into sleep she whispered. "Stay with me. I know you'll be gone when I wake up but stay for just a little while."  
  
Buffy yawned and rubbed her eyes. She rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was 8 am. Her eyes fell on the chair Angel still occupied. She smiled sleepily at him. He gave her an equally sleepy smile.  
"You're here." She said.  
"I didn't want to be gone when you woke up." 


	5. In the Light

Title: In the light  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes:The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Angel had left Ireland two days ago. Buffy, Maureen, Xander and Andrew took a plane back to San Bernardino. Xander fell asleep almost the moment the plane was in the air. Andrew was involved in his new issue of the Star Trek magazine. Maureen and Buffy were sitting next to each other, chatting. Maureen turned to Buffy. "So, tell me all the dirt on Angel."  
Buffy shrugged. "It's complicated."  
"Didn't look complicated to me. Nae the way 'e looks at ye."  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Gypsies have sort of made it their mission to keep Angel and I apart, so the way he looks at me or the way I look at him or the way the lights go dim everywhere else when he's around don't really matter."  
"Aye, I 'eard something 'bout that." Maureen said.  
Buffy gave her a sidelong look.  
"'e was Angelus, mos' evil vampire in 'istory, 'e got cursed for eatin a gypsy girl." Maureen said.  
"Well, that's one way of putting it."  
"Watchers information init so forthcoming with what 'appened between the cursin and 'im meetin ye, but I've 'eard rumors 'bout what 'appened after 'e did."  
"Rumors?" Buffy sat up straight. "There are rumors?"  
"Aye. 'e met ye, and fell madly in love. Ye two shagged, 'e turned evil again, ye sent 'im to 'ell. 'e came back from 'ell for ye, the other slayer poisoned 'im. 'e fed from ye to cure 'imself and then some'ow ended up in Los Angeles." Maureen said.  
Buffy hid her face in her hands. "It's nice to know the gossip is so.descriptive."  
Maureen beamed at her. "Aye, that's just an overview. Ye can fill in the gaps for me if ye wish."  
"No. There are no gaps." Buffy said.  
"There was one rumor, but I couldn't find anything to support it. I 'eard ye two were married."  
"Married?" Buffy squeaked. "Angel has problems with committing to the next hour with me, much less an entire lifetime. He gave me a ring for my seventeenth birthday. After I sent him to hell I left it on the floor in his mansion, just before he came back from hell. I never found it."  
"Aye? An engagement ring?" Maureen asked with all the exuberance of the teenager she was.  
Buffy laughed. "You really have a problem with the word no don't you? It was a claddagh ring."  
Maureen laughed then. "Lass, accordin to 'is culture and tradition, that ring means ye were married."  
Buffy could only stare at her and gape like a fish.  
  
@@@  
  
The Book of the Guardian proved to be as vague and cryptic as most prophecy related volumes. The translation was relatively easy, but understanding it was an entirely different matter.  
"Making any headway, Wes?" Angel asked, walking into his office.  
"Perhaps. As I've mentioned before it's extremely cryptic. Have you looked at the translations and the original?" Wes asked, looking up from his notes.  
"Some. I can look at them again if you want."  
"Please. At this point I find myself hoping that the translation is bad or that perhaps the translators did not explain the grammatical rules of Gaelic to me properly. If that's not the case, then I'm baffled for the moment." Wes pushed both the translated text and the original toward Angel. He bent over Wes' desk and studied the two.  
  
"You can't just barge in there." Harmony said loudly.  
"Shut up, Harmony." Buffy said as she barged into Wes' office. "Married? MARRIED? Why the hell didn't you tell me we were married?"  
Angel winced at the voice of a very angry slayer behind him. Wes stood up and backed away from his desk, and the angry slayer in question. "I think I'll just leave uhm-my office. Uhm, nice to see you, Buffy." He nearly tripped over his feet leaving his office. He closed the door behind him.  
Angel straightened up and turned to face the full brunt of the attack.  
  
-"Batten down the hatches, here comes Hurricane Buffy."-  
  
"Ok, Buffy, slow down. What's wrong?" Angel used the same calm tone of vice you use with a rabid dog.  
"What's wrong? How can you even say that to me? What's wrong? I just found out we were married! You never even bothered to tell me! Even a little Oh by the way, Buffy, that ring means we're married, would have been nice!" Buffy raged.  
Angel winced, finally realizing what she was talking about. "It wasn't-I-"he sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair. "Buffy, what do you know about the claddagh ring?"  
"Maureen told me that in Irish culture, your culture, traditionally a claddagh ring worn with the heart pointing towards the wearer means marriage."  
"Buffy, I told you it meant you belonged to someone." Angel said.  
"Belong to someone and married to someone is not the same thing, Angel."  
"So what are you mad about? That we were married or that I didn't tell you."  
"Duh!"  
Angel sighed. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I knew in your culture it wasn't the same thing so I didn't think to tell you what it meant in mine."  
She looked up at him. He was surprised to see the anger had faded and hurt remained in her chameleon eyes. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her head against his chest. "You were so young. You had so much on your shoulders. From the moment I saw you I wanted you for my own, I wanted you to know what it meant to me to give you that ring, but I didn't want to scare you with words like marriage." Angel spoke softly.  
"I used to dream about marrying you." Buffy said.  
Angel remembered all to vividly the dream he had once had of he and Buffy getting married. He remembered every detail of her white dress and her smile. It was one of his favorite, and his most hated, dreams.  
"I don't have my ring anymore. Something happened to it when you came back from hell." Buffy said, her voice sounded teary.  
"I'll get you another, if you want one." Angel said.  
Buffy pulled back and looked up at him. "Do you still have yours?"  
He nodded. "I stopped wearing it after I left Sunnydale. I take it out of the safe and look at it every now and then." He didn't tell her how much pain it caused him or that he often brooded for days afterwards.  
There was a knock on the door. Wes opened it slightly and cleared his throat. "I apologize, I don't wish to interrupt, but if I could just retrieve my notes and books."  
"No, I'm sorry. I should really go back to the school. I just sort of lost it when-you know, I'm just gonna go now." Buffy started to walk away. Angel caught her by the wrist.  
"Wait, Buffy. We've got a lot to talk about. I'd like for you to stay a little while."  
"I don't know if I can. I've got all the girls. Giles and Willow are coming back tomorrow." Buffy hedged.  
"When Rupert returns, if you could have him give me a call. This book Angel retrieved for me has proven to be a bit of a problem. Perhaps he could give me a hand sorting it out." Wesley said.  
"Maybe if he had a look at the book, and your notes." Angel suggested. "We've got plenty of room here. He could stay here for a few days." His eyes caught Buffy's. "He could bring Willow. We've got an extensive research department, several witches and magical specialists. Maybe they could give her a hand with what she's found out in Romania. You could come with them. We've got a lot of things to sort out ourselves."  
  
@@@  
  
"Dawn, you are not going to LA with us." Buffy argued as she packed.  
"It's not fair. I miss Angel too and last time he came to see you I didn't even get to say hello before you sent him away." Dawn whined.  
"I was a little busy, Dawn. Or did the impending apocalypse miss you somehow?" Buffy retorted, her tone snappish.  
"But I'm a valuable asset! Ask Giles. I might be able to help Wesley with his book thingy."  
"Dawn, for the last time, no. This isn't a pleasure trip, it's business." Buffy tossed another blouse in her suitcase.  
Dawn snorted. "Yah, that's why you packed the strappy pink dress." She stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.  
  
"Wow, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Willow said turning a slow circle in the lobby of the Wolfram and Hart offices.  
"Pretty impressive isn't it?" Buffy said. "Last time I was here I was sort of all rage girl, so I didn't look around much. "  
"Good Lord, I can't imagine the research facilities they must have here. The books alone...." Giles trailed off, his mind already in an imagined utopian library.  
  
Angel and Buffy were alone in his office. Willow was already deep in conversation with the magical research department. Giles and Wesley were barricaded in his office.  
"I thought Giles was going to stroke when Wes showed him the library." Buffy tried to fill in the awkward silence that filled the office.  
"He hasn't seen the vault of artifacts yet." Angel said with a hint of pride.  
"He's never gonna want to leave, you know." Buffy warned.  
Angel shrugged. "We've got room. We could donate an entire floor to The Buffy Summers Slayer School."  
Buffy took a moment to realize he was half serious. A buzz on the intercom interrupted. Harmony's voice came over the intercom. "Everything is ready when you are, Boss."  
"Thank you, Harmony.'  
Buffy looked at him suspiciously. "What's ready?"  
Angel smiled. "A surprise, for you." He held out his hand to her. "Come on, I promise it won't bite, just a short elevator ride."  
  
The elevator opened to a large atrium. Buffy stepped out first. It was like an incredible indoor jungle. There were large trees and flowers, even patches of lawn. Birds flitted in the trees.  
"I'm not sure, but I've heard there are even squirrels."  
Buffy jumped. She turned and caught her breath. Angel was beautiful in shadows and half light. He was divine in full sunlight. Tears stung her eyes. "Oh, God. I always knew you'd be amazing in the sunlight. I used to see you in my dreams like this, but you're even more beautiful then I dreamt."  
In his mind, Angel remembered another day she'd seen him in the sunlight. They'd kissed and walked hand in hand back to his apartment. He was the only one that remembered though. Buffy had only walked in the sunlight with him in her dreams.  
Angel took her by the shoulders and turned her toward a big oak tree and lush green lawn. There was a picnic sit underneath it.  
  
-"I don't see a lot of Sunday picnics in the offing. I see skulking in the  
shadows, hiding from the sun."-  
  
-"You should be with someone who can take you into the light."-  
  
"The first time I ever saw you, you were sitting in the sunlight. I loved you even then." Angel said. "Now I can take you into the light, sort of."  
"It's perfect." She said. 


	6. Coming Clean

Title: Coming Clean  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes:The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The picnic was an odd mix of foods. There were French fries, string cheese, chocolate bars and extra crunch peanut butter. Angel delighted in watching Buffy eat. She was so expressive, like she was with everything else. She dipped a square of chocolate into the jar of peanut butter and held it out to him. "Want to try? I know your vamp taste buds can't really savor it, but still."  
  
-"Why didn't you tell me about chocolate and peanut butter?"-  
  
-"Well, I figured if your vamp taste buds couldn't really savor it, then it  
would only hurt you, you know?"-  
  
He let her feed him chocolate and peanut butter. He licked the peanut butter off her fingers and his vamp taste buds couldn't really savor it, but he remembered a time when they had.  
Buffy lay back on the red and white checked blanket, her hands on her stomach. "I'm stuffed. I don't think I could eat another bite."  
Angel grinned. "That's too bad. I saved the best for last." He took a small cooler from behind the tree. Buffy sat back up, instantly aware. The cooler steamed with dry ice as Angel opened it and took out a half gallon of ice cream. "The perfect yum, cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip."  
Buffy squealed with delight. "This is perfect, Angel. How did you know that's my favorite flavor?"  
  
-"Mmm, this is a dream. Your human for like a minute, and already there is  
cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip in the fridge."-  
  
Angel shrugged and tried not to let the regrets and memories show in his eyes. "It's my favorite also. I keep some in the fridge ever since,"  
"Ever since what?" Buffy asked.  
"Ever since I started the investigation company. It helps me think." Angel lied glibly.  
Buffy looked at him a moment, eyes narrowed. Angel stuck a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and the look melted away. It was replaced by an expression of pure bliss."Mmm, this is a dream."  
Angel coughed, nearly choking on ice cream. It was coincidence, nothing more. The day had never happened. There was no way she could remember it.  
"You okay?" Buffy asked  
"Yeah, I-just-I'm fine." Angel just gave up trying to explain.  
  
After they'd consumed a good bit of the ice cream Buffy laid her head in Angel's lap and he read poetry to her. His cool fingers traced the lines of her face and stroked her hair as he read. She couldn't remember being this relaxed since-well since the last time she'd fallen asleep in Angel's arms, 4 years ago before he'd broken up with her, before prom, before graduation, before dying and going to heaven. She hadn't been this relaxed since her entire world fell apart.  
Angel watched Buffy, reciting the poems mostly by memory. She was slowly drifting off to sleep. A sweet, sleepy dream smile graced her lips. Angel felt a twinge of guilt. He had to tell her about Spike and he was going to have to do it soon. He hated to spoil this beautiful day by making her mad or making her cry. ===============================================================  
  
Wesley and Giles were deep in research mode. They had already drunk endless pots of tea between them. There were books upon books piled up on the table in front of them.  
"Look at this passage here." Giles pointed out. "It refers to a lock and a key. I highly doubt these are literal locks and keys. It mentions the Guardian is the keeper of the lock and the key. Perhaps they are artifacts that contribute to Angel's shanshu? Perhaps a sword, as in the ritual of Acathla, or a portent." Giles shoved himself back from the table and took off his glasses. "Bloody, it could be plastic token from a cracker jack box for all I can tell."  
Wesley hmmed. "Yes rather frustrating isn't it. I've got a historian looking into the history behind The Book of the Guardian. I've high hopes that he will have something for today or tomorrow."  
"Yes, perhaps if we know more about the origins of this particular text will give us a direction to go while trying to sort out these cryptic passages." Giles agreed. "Until then, perhaps we could take a break. Angel mentioned something about a vault with artifacts in it."  
  
The music at the Bronze was loud. Rubyhorse was playing and it was packed. Buffy walked through the throngs of people. Everyone wore a black suit, except her, she was dressed in torn jeans and sweater and they were covered in rich, black dirt. There was water all over the floor. A cocktail waitress walked up to her and spoke in Irish. A heavy brass key dropped from the catwalk above and landed in front of Buffy. She bent to pick it up and looked to see who had dropped the key. It was the old guardian woman who had told her about the scythe.  
A persistent knocking made her turn around. She couldn't see a door and she didn't understand how she could hear knocking over the music. Someone was making French toast.  
"Buffy,"  
Her eyes flew open and she looked into Angel's eyes. She smiled. "Good morning. I was having the weirdest dream." She stretched and yawned. A look of urgency flitted across her face. "The dream, I've gotta tell Giles." She started to get up.  
"You're not going anywhere. I made you breakfast in bed. Call him. He's staying in one of the apartments. I think it was 4687."  
"Okay, I'm not going to argue with French toast, strawberries and whipped cream." She picked up the phone and gave Giles a brief summary of her dream. "The old lady who told me about the scythe, she gave me a key, big brass one. I don't think this is important but I had on torn clothing covered in dirt and everyone else was wearing a suit. The floor was covered in water. Oh! And a waitress spoke to me in Irish, I think."  
"Try to remember the words and have Angel translate them for you. Perhaps I can meet you in the library in an hour or two." Giles said.  
"Okay, Angel brought me breakfast but I'll be there as soon as I'm done here." Buffy said. She hung up the phone. "This is nifty having Giles and a library and Willow and you all in the same place. It's sort of like High school but a lot nicer." She took a bite of French toast. "Okay Giles wants me to see if you can translate what the waitress said in my dream. He's pretty sure it sounds like a prophecy dream related to that book. I think it's Irish. It sounded like what they were speaking in Ireland, sort of."  
"Okay, I'll do what I can." Angel said.  
"die-o-ha-oeen glass gan nae eo-ch-ra-cha-cha." Buffy tried to sound the words out.  
Angel pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. She had just murdered the Irish language in the worst possible way. He hated to ask but, "Could you say it again? I think it's something about a lock."  
"Which would make sense, because the lady gave me a key." She laboriously said the sentence again.  
"Worthless lock without the key, I think." Angel said.  
"Yay! Now that business is over I can get back to eating this yummy breakfast."  
  
Angel waited until she had finished eating. "Buffy, there's something I've got to tell you and you're not going to like it." He had found it was best to be up front with Buffy from the very beginning.  
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, it was a good way to start the day."  
"I'm sorry, but this can't wait any longer. A few days after we got settled in Wolfram and Hart I got this envelope without a return address on it. I opened it and that amulet I gave you fell out, the one you wouldn't let me wear. Somehow, Spike came out of the amulet-"  
"Somehow what? Spike? He burned to ash in the Hellmouth. I saw it. He turned Sunnydale into a crater. What?"  
"Spike is alive. He's still a vampire. He's still got a soul. He's living here in Wolfram and Hart, and might I mention, not helping." Angel said.  
"How could you not tell me?" Buffy shouted, her anger building.  
"Buffy, I didn't think it was my place. I really figured Spike had already contacted you. " Angel argued.  
"You could have told me anyway. You know what he did. You know what he meant to me, but then that's just it isn't it. You're still trying to make all my decisions for me. Guess what, Angel, I'm still a big girl now. You could have told me. I could have taken it. In fact I had a right to know that the man who saved my life, all my slayers lives and the life of possibly every living thing on this earth is here."  
"Buffy, how the hell was I supposed to know I'd meet you in Ireland and you'd end up here?"  
"Angel, this has nothing to do with meeting me or me being here. You should have told me regardless-"  
"Oh give the soddin pouf a break. It's not actually his bloody fault this time." Spike said as he leaned against the open door frame of her bedroom.  
"Spike, don't you knock?" Buffy said indigently.  
"Good to see you to, Luv." He lit a cigarette.  
Buffy stood up. "I'm sorry. It is good to see you." She hugged him fiercely. A rush of tears came to her eyes. "I didn't think I was ever going to see you again." She stepped back, doubled up her fist and slugged him in the jaw.  
"Ow! Bloody hell, bitch. I save the soddin world, come back from the bloody dead and that's the thanks I get?"  
"No, that's for not telling me you were alive before now." Buffy said. Angel sat back and watched.  
"Been a bit chaotic 'round here, hasn't it, Peaches." Spike directed to Angel. Angel merely shrugged in answer.  
"Dawnie is going to kill you herself when she finds out you didn't even write." Buffy said.  
"How is the lil bit?"  
"She's good. She's Giles' new prodigy." Buffy said, pride evident in her voice.  
"Oh, bloody beautiful. Have they gotten matching tweed yet?" Spike asked.  
Buffy ignored the comment. "Both of you, get out. I've got to get dressed and meet Giles to talk about this prophecy dream."  
  
Angel and Spike walked silently down the hall. They stopped at the elevator. Angel cleared his throat. "Thanks for the save in there, Spike."  
Spike shrugged and took a long draw on his cigarette. "Slayer loves you, God knows why. Just figure it's better for us all 'round if you and her aren't going all broody over each other."  
  
"You're quite certain it was the same woman in your dream?" Giles asked.  
"Absolutely. She dropped this heavy brass key on the floor in front of me. I picked it up."  
"And then what?" Giles asked.  
"Then nothing. Angel woke me up."  
Giles took his glasses off and begin to clean then. "Then he, uh, Angel stayed the night then?"  
"No, I didn't stay the night and before anyone asks, I'm not evil. I brought her breakfast. When she didn't answer the door I let myself in." Angel said walking into the library.  
"oh, good morning then." Giles looked up, turning a couple of shades of red. He turned back to Buffy. "Perhaps we should be looking for an ancient key, an artifact of some sort." Giles reached for one of the many books piled on the table.  
"I don't know, for some reason that doesn't feel right. She gave me the key, but I don't think the real key has anything to do with it." Buffy said.  
Giles look perplexed. He took his glasses off again and cleaned them again. "Indeed."  
"Giles, last time we dealt with keys, the key was actually a person. Any chance of that being true again?"  
"I can't imagine a person being key to Angel's-"he stopped and cleared his throat. Angel glared at him. "being key to Angel's book here."  
Buffy glanced at Angel, Giles and Wesley. "Why do I feel like I missed the plot line here?"  
Giles cleaned his glasses again. Wes had taken his off and was currently beating a staccato on the table. Angel had his hands in his pockets and his back to Buffy.  
"Ok, out with it. I know you all are keeping something from me."  
There was a collective sigh. Angel stepped forward. "Three and a half years ago Wes discovered a prophecy, the Shanshu prophecies, about the vampire with a soul. It said that after a time when I, we assumed, had lived through a few apocalypses, saved the world a couple of times and so on that I would be rewarded. I would live to die. I would become human."  
"Oh God," Buffy covered her mouth with her hands. Her knees went out from underneath her. Angel was quick enough to catch her before she fell. Giles and Wesley quietly excused themselves. Buffy gulped air in great huge sobs. Tears soaked through Angel's shirt and stung his skin like holy water. Tears gathered in his own eyes and burned their way down his face. He would kill anyone else who hurt Buffy like this, yet he seemed to continue to do it time and time again.  
"I didn't tell you before, Buffy, because there's not a time frame on this. It might never happen in your lifetime."  
She looked up at him. Her bottom lip quivered and her eyes were liquid with tears. She sniffed. "Angel, do you know how many times I dreamed about you becoming human?"  
  
-"You know, it's a good thing I didn't fantasize about you turning human  
only about 10 zillion times, because today would have been a real let  
down."-  
  
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I thought it would be best not to tell you, until, if it happened. And now, with Spike. I don't know. Maybe the prophecy is meant for him." Angel said.  
"Do you really think the powers would be that cruel?" Buffy asked. "Angel, this isn't just your reward, it's mine too. It makes up for the childhood I gave up, the normalness I've never had. The people I've lost. How could you not tell me? How would you feel if Wes had found out about this prophecy and then decided it would be best not to tell you, in case it didn't happen?"  
Buffy stood up and wiped at her face. "I am so tired of you making decisions for me. Maybe to you, I'll always be that little girl sitting on the steps in front of Hemry High, but a lot of things have happened to me since then, a lot has happened since you moved here. It's time everyone started letting me make my own damn decisions." She shook her head and sighed. "You know what, I'm going home."  
She turned and walked out the Wolfram and Hart offices. 


	7. Soul Check

Title: Soul check  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Buffy cried the whole way home. She was happy to see the sprawling ranch house come into view. She was even happier that everyone was out on a slayer trip except for Dawn and Andrew.  
Dawn uncharacteristically greeted her with a big hug at the door. "Come on in the living room, Dawnie. I've got some good news for you." Buffy said.  
Dawn followed her into the large, open living area. Buffy collapsed on the over stuffed sectional couch and patted the seat next to her. Dawn curled into her like a cat. Buffy wrapped her arm around her shoulders.  
"Dawnie, I don't know how or why, but Spike is alive. He got sent to Angel in LA. He looks good. He's still got his soul."  
"ohmigod. You're kidding right? And you wouldn't let me go with! That's so not fair." Dawn immediately started raging, like the teenager she still was.  
"Dawnie, I didn't know. I just found out this morning."  
"Can I go to LA and see him?" Dawn asked.  
Buffy sighed. "Maybe. If Giles and Willow are planning on staying we'll talk about it."  
"Thank you!" Dawn kissed her on the cheek and then flew up the stairs in a flurry of excitement.  
Buffy trudged up the stairs. She'd left her bags in LA. She'd been in such a hurry to put some distance between herself and Angel. She lay down on the bed, grateful for the quiet in the house. It was such a rarity with twenty-one people, seventeen of them teenage girls. The house was large. It had 6 bedrooms if one didn't count the den that had been converted into a dorm room with 10 bunk beds for all the slayers. It was still bursting at the seams when the girls were all there.  
Buffy fought the tears that came unbidden to her eyes. Angel human, she couldn't even fathom it actually happening. It had been the main feature in her dreams for so long. It hurt so much that he didn't trust her with the knowledge. How stupid did he think she was? She was going to spend her entire life waiting on him whether he was human or not. She had told him once that she couldn't change and that was still true. She wasn't the sort of girl who could give her heart and soul more then once. She'd never survive it, she'd barely survived giving them to Angel.  
When everyone got back from the slayer trip Buffy pretended to be asleep. She just didn't want to make explanations. She'd see everyone in the morning and maybe by then she could stop crying.  
  
Buffy tried to get back into the daily routine around the house. All the girls got up at 8am for breakfast. Then they did group exercises in the backyard for three hours. The rest of the afternoon Robin helped them with school work. He ran an excellent home school program. Buffy was determined that none of the girls use their slayer status as a reason to drop out. If there were no slayer outings planned in the evening Faith, Buffy and Robin worked with them on their combat skills.  
She had a lot of paperwork to catch up on from her trip in Ireland. There were dozens of laws that applied when one, technically, ran a school. Robin was an immense help to her with all the paperwork. She was sitting in the office trying to work up her budget for the month so she could send it to Giles. He took whatever money was needed from the Watcher's Council account and wrote her a check for the school's monthly expenses.  
"It's staggering the amount of food these girls can eat." Buffy said to herself as she went through grocery receipts. She wrinkled her forehead and wrote down an amount for groceries. She begin to file through a thick pile of bills.  
One of the girls, Elizabeth, poked her head in the office door. "Some totally hot guy is waiting for you in the living room."  
Buffy sighed and massaged her forehead. Every guy under the age of thirty was totally hot to 16 girls cooped up in a house with only Xander, Andrew and Robin as the male figures. She was trying to remember if she had a plumber, electrician or any other workman scheduled to fix anything. "Ok, tell them I'll be there in just a second."  
  
Angel stood in the living room of the big house. He could hear teenage girls giggling, peeking around the doorway. There were two sitting on the couch in the living room flirting with him; at least he was pretty sure they were flirting. He was old but he wasn't dead and he thought he remembered flirting.  
He turned to face the doorway when he heard her walking in. She looked tired and worried. His first instinct was to move toward her, to put his arms around her and to ask what he could do. Instead he put his hands in his pockets. When she looked up her face registered surprise and then more worry.  
"Angel, is something wrong?" The giggling of the girls in the other room immediately ceased and a frantic whispering started. Buffy sighed and said in a loud voice, "Girls, to your room, all of you, now."  
There were several groans and complaints. Buffy was surprised to hear Maureen's voice herding them all into the dorm room.  
Angel gave her his Buffy face. "You've got your hands full. They are- "  
"A general pain in the ass, I know." She rolled her shoulders.  
"I brought your luggage for you. I didn't know when you'd be back up in LA. I thought there might be some things you'd want in there." Angel said.  
She smiled. She wanted to be angry with him. She never had been able to maintain any anger when it came to Angel. "Thank you. You really didn't have to come all that way just for my bag though."  
"I didn't." he said.  
"Have Giles and Wesley found out something? Or Willow?"  
"Willow actually. She thinks she's getting really close."  
"How close?" Buffy asked, anxiously.  
Angel looked down at his shoes. "She wants to try a spell tomorrow at midnight. She needs you there for it."  
Buffy felt like all the blood had drained from her body. She walked over to the couch and sat down, trying to remember how to breathe. Angel was beside her instantly, his hands on her back, touching her shoulders, supporting her.  
"I've got to call her. I need to hear what she's found." Buffy finally managed.  
Angel nodded and fished his cell phone out his pocket. He handed it to her. "Just press one; it will dial into Wolfram and Hart. The receptionist can connect you to Willow."  
Buffy waited a moment on the phone. It seemed like a lifetime to her before Willow's voice came over the line. "Will, Angel is here."  
  
"oh God, Buffy, I'm so glad he's there. What did he tell you?"  
"He said you wanted to do a spell tomorrow night, a spell that involves his curse."  
"Yah, I think I have it. It's kind of involved. I've got to try and extract all the bad parts of the curse, there was way more then just the happiness clause in there, and leave his soul. I'll explain more when you get here."  
"We'll leave now, Will. Thank you, thank you so much."  
"Bring Dawnie, Buffy. She might be helpful and I know Spike wants to see her."  
Buffy closed the flip phone and handed it back to Angel. "Let me go throw some things in a bag really quick." She started to run up the stairs. "Dawn!" She yelled down. "Dawnie, hurry up and pack! We're going to LA."  
  
It was late when they pulled into the Wolfram and Hart garage. Dawn was literally asleep on her feet, Buffy wasn't far behind. She got Dawn settled in a suite next to hers. Angel was waiting in for her when she closed the door to her room. She walked over and sat down cross legged on the bed. Angel sat beside her. He took her hand in his.  
"If Willow is able to do this, remove the happiness clause, we won't have the curse in our way anymore. I want to talk to you about what you want to do then." Angel said.  
Buffy sighed. "Angel, if this is going to be another speech about wanting me to have a normal life and children and someone who can take me in the light, I'd really rather do the heartbreaking thing tomorrow when I've had more rest."  
He dropped her hand and looked down. Pain was evident in his eyes, on his face, even in his body. Immediately she was sorry. When his voice came it was husky and velvety. "Buffy, I was wrong all those years ago. Those things were all true, but they weren't the real reason I left. I was afraid. I was afraid just being near you, seeing you smile, seeing you laugh, would risk my soul. Sex has nothing to do with losing my soul, it never has. It was you, always you. I didn't lose my soul when we made love. I lost my soul lying in bed, with you in my arms, having just made love to you. It's a moment of true happiness and even though I couldn't make love to you ever again, I had to do what I call soul checks. I have to gage my happiness and just make sure it's not too much. I found myself doing those too often when I was around you. Hell, just the scent of you makes me smile."  
Buffy caught his hand between hers and brought it to her lips. She was crying but it wasn't the heart wrenching, painful sobs she'd come to associate with Angel.  
"You're 24 years old. You're a slayer. If what you want is marriage and children and walks along the beach at noon, then I understand and I'll let you go with a blessing and I'll pray for the rest of your life that you are happy every single day. But, I think you're old enough to make those decisions on your own. You don't need me to tell you what you want out of life, you probably never did. I was just too stupid to realize it." Angel said.  
Buffy smiled through her tears. "Angel, I have 16 teenage girls and it seems like I add one to the number everyday. I think I've got the children thing more then covered. Normal isn't a word that has ever even begun to describe my life. I may not be the slayer but I'm still a slayer and things will always come for me, just like they always have. I've always found I look better in the moonlight. It hides the bruises I get slaying and as for the marriage thing, if Willow manages to make your soul permanent, your ass will so be grass if you don't marry me."  
Angel laughed and pulled her into his arm. For what he hoped would be one of the last times, he did a "soul check". 


	8. Soul Magic

Title: Soul Magic  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Chapter 8  
  
The day started busy. Everyone had gathered in the conference room. Harmony was serving bagels and juice. Angel met Buffy at the door with a light kiss. He took her hand and led her over to a group of people she'd never met.  
"Buffy, these are my friends, Gunn, Fred and Lorne."  
Buffy started shaking the hand of the handsome black man. "Buffy Summers."  
"Charles Gunn. You know, somehow I thought you'd be bigger for a slayer." The man grinned.  
She smiled back. "Maybe later I can kick Angel's ass and prove to you I'm big enough."  
"Aw yeah, I'd sign up to watch a show like that." Gunn said. Angel smirked at him.  
"I'm Fred. I've heard a lot about you, well actually not so much. Cordy told some though."  
"It's nice to meet you, Fred." Buffy smiled at the pretty brunette. She found it was impossible not smile at her.  
The green demon stepped forward and hugged her. Buffy was only slightly taken aback. "Oh Honey, I've seen you every time Angelcakes here sings. You're the love of his life, his very long life, and what a love! If Manilow had seen what I see when he sings, he'd be ashamed to write songs about love. It can't even compare."  
Buffy looked to Angel with confusion. "Lorne is an anagogic demon. He sees your soul when you sing." Angel said.  
"Alright, no singing around the green guy." Buffy said with fake resolve.  
"Oh Sugarlips, with the love that's coming off you every time you look at Studmuffin there, you don't have to sing." Lorne said.  
Buffy blushed and was extremely grateful when Willow's timely entrance interrupted Lorne. Everyone took a seat at the long table in the center of the room. Angel sat at the head of the table, Buffy sat to his left. Willow was on his right. Wesley sat next to Willow and Giles was next to Buffy. Everyone else had scattered around.  
"Ok, most of you know Giles and I spent nearly two months in Romania doing research, gathering history stuff like that. When we came here I pretty much had all the information, I just wasn't sure what to do with it. The witches here were really helpful there." Willow smiled at Angel. "Anyway, in all my research I found out there's a lot more to this curse then just the happiness clause we knew about. It's particularly cruel. I'm not sure how they could do this to any living being, even one without soul. To do this to someone who cares, it's heinous. It's designed to make sure that Angel never forgets one single detail about any of the atrocities that Angelus committed. It's also designed to take any guilt or remorse Angel feels and magnify ten times. And then, there's the happiness clause. If you were to do this to a normal person, who had normal guilt about things like not tipping a waiter, not paying the electric bill right on time, casting a spell to make all their friends forget or dropping out of college and trying to end the world-I mean, sorry. A normal person with normal guilt would pretty much lose their mind. I don't know how Angel stood all these years."  
"yeah, we've 'eard it all before. Peaches is a bleedin champion." Spike muttered from the end of the table. Buffy glared at him. He'd been around her long enough to know the look was a staking threat. He took a sip from his mug of blood and tipped his head at her.  
Angel remained quiet. Buffy reached under the table and squeezed his hand. He looked up at her. Everyone in the room saw the message she relayed to him with her eyes, I love you.  
Willow smiled at the couple and continued her speech. "What I want to do is take and extract all the bad parts of the curse and leave Angel's soul behind. I need all of you to do it. I've already talked to Angel about this but I'll go over it all for the rest of you. I've come up with a spell that resembles a soul extraction but it's designed to pull on the negative aspects of the curse. It's still going to try and take Angel's soul with it." Willow held up a hand as Buffy took a breath to speak. "Let me finish. Angel is going to have to fight for his soul, he can expect Angelus to be fighting to let go of the soul. The reason you all have to be there is to remind Angel of all the reasons he has to fight. It also creates a lot of good vibes and draws on any magical power you all have, consciously or not. Just in case it doesn't work, Angel will be chained with magical manacles."  
Buffy bit her lip. She wanted to ask, but she was afraid to know the answer. Willow looked at her and smiled sadly. "It's ok, Buffy. If it doesn't work, I've got the supplies on hand to do the old ensouling spell and I go do some more research."  
Buffy nodded. She knew she couldn't actually talk without breaking down.  
"So, I want you all to go rest, relax and make sure when you arrive at midnight you are all in good moods and well rested." Willow finished up.  
Lorne pulled Angel and Buffy aside. "I think I can do something to comfort you two kids. I want to make sure I'm right though. Hum a few bars of something for me, Honey." Lorne looked at Buffy.  
Buffy glanced at Angel. He nodded. Buffy hummed a little bit of nonsense.  
"Your turn Angelcakes." Lorne said  
Angel reluctantly hummed a couple of bars, badly, to Mandy.  
Lorne chuckled. "Go on, have fun, Kids. You've got nothing to worry about. I see flowers and rainbows in your future, might take some fighting, but they're there." Lorne left the conference room smiling and singing to himself.  
Willow hugged Buffy and Angel. "Lorne is right, go have fun, enjoy yourself. It's going to work."  
"Thanks Will."  
  
Angel took Buffy up to the Atrium again. In case the spell didn't work, he wanted to spend his last day with her in the sunlight. He'd remember for the rest of his life, the rest of eternity, how she looked sitting in the grass, the sun streaming through the trees, lighting her from behind.  
Angel pulled Buffy into his arms. She seemed to fit so perfectly there. She was so tiny against him. "Make plans with me, Buffy. "  
"I've done nothing but make plans for my future with you since I met you." She said.  
  
-"Angel, when I look into the future all I see is you. All I want is you."-  
  
-"I know the feeling."-  
  
-"I want my life to be with you."-  
  
"I was serious about donating an entire floor to your school. We could do it easily. The girls would all have apartments. Giles could have the other penthouse up here. Dawn could live here with us. I've got a spare bedroom. Faith could move here, along with Robin. Even Xander and Andrew."  
"Why don't we just invite the Los Angeles Lakers Basketball team while we're at it?" Buffy teased.  
"If it would get you here, I will."  
"Are you sure Angel? I mean you saw the girls in action, and that was just 5 minutes. They are a handful, having them here all the time would be- "  
"Great. It's safe. We could monitor where they were going and what they were doing all the time. There's a cafeteria to feed them. It'd be less work for you. I'll have a training room built for them. I've been planning to build one anyway." Angel said.  
"You do realize that me living here and the school being here are not dependant on each other right?"  
Angel nodded. "Yeah, but if you're here during the day I can come see you without ever having to leave the building."  
"So your motives for the school moving here are entirely selfish?" Buffy asked.  
Angel pondered a moment. "Entirely."  
Buffy laughed. "How can I say no to such logic and reasoning?"  
Angel giggled like a little boy and clutched Buffy so hard she had to remind him that one of them there had to breathe.  
"Now that we've got our living arrangements and work schedules coordinated, I want to talk about the important stuff, like the wedding." Buffy smiled girlishly up at him.  
  
While Buffy took a shower and changed for the spell casting, Angel went looking for Spike. He found him up on the roof of Wolfram and Hart, smoking.  
"It's Captain Forehead to the rescue. Don't you have a damsel to comfort or something? Isn't this your finest hour or something?" Spike said before taking a long draw on his cigarette.  
"I wanted to ask you a favor, Spike." Angel said.  
"Ask me, a favor? That's bloody rich."  
"I'm serious. If something goes wrong and I lose my soul and become Angelus again, I want you to stake to me."  
"Al-bloody-right. I've been waiting to do this for a hundred years or so." Spike said gleefully.  
"I don't want to put Buffy through that again and I can't live an eternity like this."  
"You know the Slayer will stake me for it." Spike said.  
"No, she won't. You've got a soul now. She might beat you into oblivion but she won't kill you." Angel assured him.  
"Well, alright then. Sounds like a bleedin good time to me."  
  
At Willow's request everyone gathered in a large empty room in the basement of Wolfram and Hart. She had prepared the room ahead of time. Buffy was glad to see Faith had come down from San Bernardino. She knew that Faith and Angel were close. She could accept that now, just the way Angel was going to have to accept that she and Spike were close.  
Willow had made a circle of white candles within a circle of blessed salt. Inside the circle there were two pairs of magic enhanced manacles. There were three large crystals set around the circle. A bowl filled with various herbs smoked and filled the room with fragrance. Buffy sensed a hint of vanilla.  
"It smells like vanilla in here, Will." She observed.  
"Scent memory is one of the strongest types of memory. Even coma patients have scent memory sometimes. When Angel and I talked about the spell the other day he mentioned that the smell of vanilla always makes him think of you. I couldn't help but think it would help him stay focused when he's fighting." Willow said.  
"This is going to work, isn't it, Will?" Buffy asked, her eyes pleading.  
"I'm going to do my very best, Buffy. I promise and if it doesn't, I'll keep looking until I find something. Now go sit with Angel. We're going to have to lock him up soon and I want him to be as calm as possible before we do that."  
Willow finished her preparations and instructed everyone where to stand. Buffy locked Angel up but remained sitting beside him, holding his head in her lap.  
"Ok, I think we're ready. Once I start chanting, everyone needs to stay in their places. It's important that the circle not be broken. I'm not really sure what to expect, a lot of it will depend on Angel. Okay, places everybody."  
  
Buffy stood at Angel's head, right in line with his heart. "Because you are his heart," Willow had said with a sweet smile. He would also be able to look up just a bit and see her standing there. Wes stood at his right hand. Gunn stood at his left. Fred stood beside Gunn, Lorne beside Wes, in line with Angel's abdomen, as his center. Faith and Spike stood at his feet, as his ground. Dawn and Willow stood just off to the right of that.  
"How are we going to know if the spell works?" Dawn asked.  
"The crystals will turn black, I think." Willow said, trying to sound confident.  
  
Willow smeared a slightly shimmery oil on her forehead and a bit on Angel's. She stood at his feet, her hands held palm up. She closed her eyes and begin the spell.  
"Gods bind his soul but cast aside the darkness tied there."  
"Bind him yet release the remorse, the pain the grief."  
"Bind him, anchor his soul."  
"I implore you, Lord, do not ignore this request."  
"Bind him! Bind him! BIND HIM!"  
  
Angel's body arched and he reverted to his vamp face. He howled with pain and his body started to smoke. Buffy looked up at Willow, alarmed. Willow was beginning the chant again.  
Angel struggled against the manacles. Occasionally his face would slip back to human but it always reverted to vamp. His screams grew louder, more anguished. Silent tears tracked down Buffy's face. Willow continued to chant. She begin to glow with a white light and started chanting louder, in Romanian.  
Angel's eyes begin to glow with the same golden hue that Buffy had seen when Willow had re-ensouled him the first time. He snarled and growled, the vamp face having become a permanent fixture. Dawn was crying almost hysterically. Spike held her hand and talked to her.  
"Just a bit longer, now Niblet. Red said it was important not to break the circle."  
"Will! Stop it! You're killing him!" Buffy screamed.  
"BUFFY!" It was the first intelligible word Angel had said since the spell began.  
Buffy was the first to break the circle. She ran to Angel and dropped on her knees beside him. She gathered his head in her lap and tried to murmur soothing words to him. Tears fell from her eyes onto his face.  
There was an explosion of white light. It threw everyone in the circle back and blasted the crystals to pieces. The golden light in Angel's eyes faded. The crystal pieces were black.  
"Angel," Buffy whispered. His name was a prayer of hope, a plea, on her lips.  
He lay perfectly still in the center of the circle. His eyes were closed. He didn't take unnecessary breaths. Buffy smoothed the ridges of his vamp face. There was no response.  
"Angel," Buffy said a bit louder, her voice hitched with tears.  
There was no way to tell if he was merely unconscious, or dead. As the seconds ticked by, Buffy grew more hysterical. She didn't even notice everyone filing quietly out of the room. Willow touched her shoulder.  
"It-the crystals turned black." Willow said helplessly.  
Buffy looked up with malevolent eyes. "You killed him. He was going to marry me, you killed him."  
"Buffy, I'm sorry, I didn't- there was nothing to indicate-"  
"Get out! Leave me alone with him! Get out!" Buffy screamed.  
Willow scurried out of the room. Buffy bent over her lover and sobbed. 


	9. Healing

Title: Healing  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
You didn't really think I'd end it there did you?  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Willow sat in the library, inconsolable. She checked book after book. It had to be wrong. There was never any indication that the spell would kill Angel. She knew she risked releasing Angelus but she hadn't realized she had risked his life completely. Tears fell on the yellowed pages of the books. She wiped at them. There was a quiet knock on the library door. Willow looked up as Giles stepped in. She stood up and tackled Giles in a hug. The very British man was taken aback a moment before he put his arms around the redhead and let her cry.  
  
* * *  
  
Time has ceased to exist for Buffy. She didn't know how long she lay bent over her lover's body. The candles had burned low. They were the only light in the room. Buffy's tears had ceased to fall. She had cried all the life out of herself. There was only numbness and death. She silently unlocked the manacles from Angel's wrists and ankles.  
Buffy lay down next to Angel's cold body, somehow he seemed colder to the touch then he had before. She pillowed her cheek on his chest and pulled his arm around her. She remembered a crypt she'd seen once. The top was carved to resemble two lovers, lying like this. The inscription had been in Latin. She wished now that she had been able to read it, maybe they had been found like that and buried together.  
"Buffy," It was so faint she was sure she had imagined it but she sat up franticly anyway.  
"Angel?" It was a question, the most important question.  
His eyelids fluttered almost imperceptibly. Buffy knelt beside him. Her hands stroked the face that had reverted to human sometime earlier, his strong brow, those beautiful cheekbones, the lips that never did smile enough. "Angel, Angel, come back to me. Don't leave me now." Buffy pleaded, tears she thought were long gone gathering in her voice.  
He coughed weakly, blood splattered his lips "Never," he whispered so faintly she had to lean closer to hear him.  
She covered his face in kisses and tears. "We need to get you somewhere you can rest comfortably."  
"In a minute," he reached a hand out to her; Buffy took it and drew herself back down, into his arms. He still seemed colder to her then usual, even colder then the room itself. It worried her; Angel was always room temperature, unless he'd just finished drinking warm blood.  
"Angel, honey, we've got to get you some place warmer. You're too cold. You need to eat and you need to be warm." Buffy stood up and awkwardly got his big body up off the floor. He stumbled a bit and fell against her; nearly knocking them both back down. Buffy struggled to get him out of the room, down the hall and into an elevator. Her slayer strength made her stronger then him, but it was still awkward and clumsy when trying to carry someone a foot taller then she was.  
Once in the elevator she let him rest in a corner. Buffy punched in the code for the penthouse. Buffy bounced on the balls of her feet, urging the elevator to go faster. When it finally reached the penthouse floor it took everything she had to get Angel back up and moving toward the bedroom. Once she got him in the bed she took his boots off and piled every blanket she could find on top of him. She got the blankets from the spare room and piled them on top of him.  
"You're gonna be okay, Angel. I don't know what's wrong, but we're gonna fix it." Buffy retrieved the cordless phone from the bedside and called the front desk.  
"I need Willow." Buffy said as she crawled under the blankets and covered as much of Angel's body as she could, trying to warm him with her own body.  
"I'm sorry. We don't have a Willow working here."  
"Harmony, you ditz, this is Buffy, remember Willow, the red head witch you were mercilessly mean to in High School. I need her. I need you to find her. She's in the building, probably either the library or the magical studies lab. Send her to Angel's apartment immediately. I also need you to find Giles and Wesley and tell them the same thing. Now, not later, not when you finish painting your nails, now."  
"Well okay, but geez, you know, I could eat you, you should be nicer to me."  
"And I could stake you and then let the janitor clean up the dust. Now." Buffy hung up.  
  
Willow was there inside of 10 minutes. "Angel's not dead! Buffy, that's great."  
"Something is wrong with him, Will. He's really cold and he's hurting and weak. Get some blood out of the fridge, heat it up for a couple of minutes and bring it in here please. If there's a bag of anything human in there bring it."  
Willow nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.  
Angel shivered under all the blankets. "Buffy, so cold."  
"I know. Willow is bringing you some warm blood. I'm doing everything I can."  
Buffy helped him sit up, supporting him with her body. Willow handed her the mug. Buffy held it for him. "Wrap your hands around this, Angel. I'll hold it, but it'll warm up your hands."  
Angel drank the blood slowly. He seemed to have stopped shivering quite as much. Giles and Wesley had shown up by then and were conferring with Willow in the living room. Buffy tucked blankets around him and promised to come check on him in a moment.  
"I just want to see what Giles, Wes and Willow have come up with. I'm right in the next room if you need me."  
Angel nodded and closed his eyes. Buffy looked at him anxiously and then walked into the living room.  
"What have we found out?" Buffy asked. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Wes and Giles pour over the books.  
Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his forehead. "I think maybe this is just a reaction to Willow's spell, perhaps even an indication that the spell worked properly. Once he gets some rest, and eats, he should be alright, I believe."  
"I concur." Wes added. "I believe we can take this as a sign Willow's spell worked. And it would make sense. Angel is recovering from battle wounds. He had quite an internal battle, from the external signs we saw. He needs to recover from it just as he would a physical battle. Give him a little bit of time and I believe he'll be as good as new."  
Buffy nodded. "Thank you all for coming up here so quickly. Willow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."  
The sweet redhead smiled and shook her head. "No, it's okay. You were upset and I understand. I wish I'd know to expect this, at least I could have warned you."  
Buffy gave her a brief hug. "If you guys want to show yourself out, I'm going to check on Angel. I'll let you know how he is. And Wes, if you could let everyone else know we think he's going to be okay."  
"Of course, Buffy. Take care of Angel; I'll handle the rest for the moment."  
  
Buffy crawled back into the bed with Angel. He had stopped shivering and he felt a bit warmer to the touch. She snuggled up into his chest. "How are you feeling?" she asked.  
Angel smiled at her weakly. "Better now." He dipped his head and kissed her very gently. Buffy returned the kiss with trembling lips. Fire spread through her, from her lips, down her spine, all the way to her toes. The kiss deepened and grew from innocence into full blown passion. Buffy pulled back, barely able to breathe, she looked up into Angel's face. His eyes were burning with intensity. He gave her only a moment before capturing her mouth with his own again. His mouth moved from hers, across her jaw and down her neck. He stopped where he'd left his mark on her and kissed it gently. "Mine," Angel whispered before running his tongue over the scar. Buffy arched her body into his.  
"From the moment I was born, I was yours, Angel. I was made to love you. Sometimes I think my soul in heaven was yours from the beginning of time."  
He shifted his body and looked into her eyes. "There are no words to tell you, how beautiful you are to me."  
Buffy touched traced his eyebrow and kissed his cheekbone. She cradled his face in her hands. "I know we've got this brand new anchored soul to test out, but maybe you should rest. We've got the rest of our lives."  
Angel shook his head. "It doesn't matter if we've got the rest of eternity, it's not enough time."  
They undressed each other slowly, taking time to savor each inch of skin uncovered. Buffy kissed the base of his throat, noticing for the first time a very faint cross shaped scar. "What happened?" she asked.  
He smiled. "Do you remember the night in the Bronze, the first time you kissed me after you found out I was a vampire."  
-"It's just-"-  
  
-".painful, I know. See you around?"-  
  
Buffy nodded. She had already fallen so deep in love with him by then, she hadn't even realized it, or maybe she had and she just wasn't ready to accept it yet.  
"The cross you were wearing, when we kissed, it burned me." Angel said.  
"Why didn't you say something? Pull away?" She asked.  
"Kissing you was worth the pain." He answered simply.  
Buffy looked at him with tears in her eyes and gently kissed the scar. "And this is worth all the pain we've gone through to get to this point, Angel."  
"Buffy, this is worth over a century of pain, and many centuries more, even if all we ever have is this one-"  
Buffy silenced him with a kiss. "Don't. I will not wake up with you gone, ever again. Promise me?"  
"I promise." He kissed her, "One last thing, Buffy and then that's enough talking."  
"Hmmm?" She sighed with pleasure.  
"Just in case, there's a stake under the bed."  
Buffy opened her eyes and looked straight into his. They were determined, the same sort of look she had before she went into battle. "No, that's not going to happen this time. You promised remember?"  
In answer, Angel kissed her again. He ran his hands down her back and rested them on her hips. Her body was a marvel, so tiny, so perfect, with so much strength in every muscle, every movement. He started to tell her how beautiful, how perfect she was, but he had no words, not in his eyes.  
Buffy kissed the corded muscles of Angel's neck. He wasn't cold anymore. When they were this close it seemed her warmth became his, her heartbeat, his heartbeat and even her breath, his breath. She ran her hot little hands over his body. There was so much pain, so much heartache to make up for. They had so much healing to do, healing that could only be done together.  
Buffy kept her eyes open while Angel ran his hands over her body. This was to close to her dreams, she wanted to make sure that she hadn't fallen asleep and into a dream. Angel's hands were cool, but everywhere they touched her started a fire that burned down to her very bones. Everything inside of her wanted him, wanted to touch the marble coolness of his skin.  
"Buffy," Angel's voice was velvety smooth and husky with desire. "I love you. I want my life to be with you."  
In answer, Buffy wrapped herself around him. Angel already had her mind, her heart and her soul. He had since the day she knocked him on his back in that alley behind the Bronze. She gave him the only she had left to give, the one thing she'd never been able to give, her body. 


	10. Moving In

Title: Moving In  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
**This chapter seemed a bit rushed to me but I wanted to update on what everyone was doing, even though much of what they were doing weren't of great importance but still important enough to the story to be mentioned, in my opinion. So I apologize in advance if it seems like I stuffed to much in here**  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Buffy stretched and yawned. She rolled over and opened her eyes, and saw an empty bed. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. "Angel?" There was no answer. Buffy felt sick to her stomach. She dropped to her knees and fished the stake out from under the bed.  
Buffy tiptoed through the bedroom into the living room. She had the sheet wrapped around her body, one hand clutching it at her chest, the other hand holding a stake.  
He caught her off guard and lifted her off her feet, sweeping her into his arms. "Mmm, I was going to make you scrambled eggs, but right now, the bedroom is looking to be a much nicer option."  
"Angel?" Buffy searched his eyes.  
He smiled at her and rubbed his nose against hers. "It's me, Buffy."  
He was telling her the truth. Angel's soul shone through his eyes. "You can drop that." He indicated the stake she still held tightly in her grip.  
She dropped it quickly, feigning innocence and then looking chagrined. "Sorry, when I woke up and you weren't in bed, I was afraid-"she trailed off.  
He nodded. "And before you ask, last night, perfect happiness. In fact, right now, perfect happiness."  
Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Take me back to bed and let's see if we can't find new definitions for perfect happiness."  
  
* * *  
  
Angel walked into his office the next morning later then usual and whistling. Wes dropped the priceless Vyselak urn he was holding.  
"Morning, Wes." Angel grinned at him. "I hope you didn't actually need that." He looked pointedly down at the shattered pieces of pottery.  
"Uhm, actually-are you feeling alright?" Wes asked.  
"I'm great, I'm better then great." Angel responded.  
"Yes, well," Wes begin backpedaling. He fumbled in his jacket pocket and came up with a cross. He thrust the cross toward Angel.  
"Its okay, Wes. I'm not evil." Angel insisted.  
Wes looked at him, obviously pondering whether to trust him or not. "You're quite sure then?"  
"Willow's spell worked. My soul is anchored."  
"You've-I mean, you and Buffy-"Wes stammered.  
"Perfect happiness, soul intact." Angel confirmed.  
"That's, well that's fantastic, Angel."  
"It really is." Buffy said stepping into the office. She walked over to Angel and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you."  
He laughed. Wes looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "I've been gone ten minutes, tops."  
Buffy rested her chin on Angel's shoulder. "Yes but it was ten minutes apart. So I've decided that time you spent here? That was enough time apart."  
He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "Too much." He blanched as soon as the words came out of his mouth.  
  
-"That time you just spent in the kitchen? That was enough time apart."-  
  
-"Too much."-  
  
Buffy caught it. "Angel? Are you okay? Sit down. I'll get you some blood."  
"I'm okay, just got a little dizzy I guess." Angel tried to cover.  
Buffy poured a mug of blood from the minbar in the office. Wes picked up the larger pieces of the urn he'd dropped and excused himself. "Are you sure you're okay? It's been a lot to deal with at once." Buffy asked, sitting the mug in front of him.  
"Buffy, I couldn't be better, really. Why don't we work on getting things ready for your slayers to move in here? The sooner I get you here on a permanent basis the better." Angel said.  
Lorne walked in the office with a brief knock. He was wearing a chartreuse suit and chatting on a cell phone. He handed it to his assistant, who stepped out of the office as soon as he had.  
"Stop the presses, Stop the presses! Someone's got their soul anchored. And, Angelcakes, I gotta say, it looks good on you."  
"He's right, it looks very good." Buffy teased. She leaned over and kissed the top of Angel's head.  
Angel chuckled and took Buffy's hand in his. "Thanks, Lorne. It feels pretty good too."  
"And you two, I've got one word, Kyrumption." Lorne said with a whistle.  
Buffy arched an eyebrow at him. "Ky-what?"  
"Kyrumption. In the dimension I come from it's a word for when 2 heroes come together, very epic stuff." Lorne explained.  
Buffy shrugged. "Well, heroes and epic, that's got to be good, right?"  
  
* * *  
  
Giles and Willow had moved Watcher central to Wolfram and Hart's library. The resources were miles above any other place, including the former Watcher's Council, Giles said. He wanted to have a final Watcher's meeting before he started sending slayers to various posts. For the first time in history, there would be multiple active watchers and slayers. It was a huge undertaking.  
Buffy and Angel were preparing Wolfram and Hart to be invaded by more then a dozen teenage girls within a week. Angel was having keycard locks installed in the elevators and in most of the areas of the office so that the girls couldn't go "exploring" and end up causing trouble, or getting into by being somewhere they shouldn't. Dawn was actively arguing to be given a suite on the slayer floor. Buffy was actively arguing against it. Faith, Robin, Xander, Willow and Andrew would all have apartments on the slayer floor. They would act as the "house mothers" for the floor.  
Wesley was still working on the Book of the Guardian. He was making some progress, but not enough to help anyone.  
  
* * *  
  
Buffy and Angel drove the short distance to San Bernardino in Angel's Viper. They were going to tell the girls about the move to Los Angeles and start everyone packing. Buffy had already talked to the adults and everyone, except Xander, was excited about the move and the opportunities it opened.  
"Buff, I don't know if I'm gonna move into the beautiful new Slayer School when it opens." Xander had confided to her over the phone one evening.  
"Is it the whole thing with Angel?" Buffy asked.  
"No. Well, okay it's not secret I'm not loving Dead Boy, but that's not it." Xander admitted.  
"Willow anchored his soul. He can't lose it again, ever. There's no moment of pure happiness clause." Buffy said.  
"That's was always just an excuse, Buff. I didn't like Angel in high school because you fell for him and not me. It just didn't help when he tried to eat me. Here's the deal. My place in the Scooby's and later in the Slayer Training Program, has always been joke boy, snack food boy and carpenter. With a fancy new building I highly doubt you'll need my carpentry skills."  
"We still need snack food and jokes." Buffy said.  
"I've been looking for apartments in LA I found one, not far from the evil lawyer building. It's rent controlled and very different from my apartment with Anya. I think I'm going to take it. I can get a job with a construction company. I've got plenty of experience. I don't have to tell them the only reason I made management at my last job was because all the other candidates got eaten." Xander said, in his typical Xander fashion.  
"You are going to visit, especially if it's not far away." Buffy said in her sternest voice.  
"Of course. My three best girls are all in the same place, one stop shopping."  
  
Buffy thought about the conversation now. She was afraid Xander would pull away from them all now that they were in "Angel's building". She worried about him alone in the big city, living on his own. He was dealing with Anya's death reasonably well, but she worried a change like this would set him back. She snapped out of her thoughts when Angel pulled the Viper into the circle drive at the San Bernardino house. She saw a cluster of girls draw back the curtain in the living room. There seemed to be an excited flurry and then the window was left empty.  
Within a matter of seconds, teenage girls poured out of the front door of the house. They clustered around Angel and the Viper, all talking at once. Kennedy stepped forward and held out her hand. Angel shook it.  
"Hi, I'm Kennedy. Buffy didn't tell us you were gorgeous, so you have to excuse the gawking. And don't worry. I'm not hitting on you. I'm gay."  
"Uhm, that's-that's nice." Angel stammered. If he'd had circulation he would have blushed. Buffy merely looked on in amusement.  
"Oh! You're a vampire. The one with the soul, I mean besides Spike. There are a lot of Watcher's journals about you." Amanda paused and glanced at Buffy, who was giving her a stern look. "Not that I would know, because I would never do something like take, I mean borrow, borrow Giles' books." She stepped back into the throng of girls and slouched down, trying to disappear.  
"You're the one who bit her! I mean Buffy, the scar she has. It was in the journals that Amanda didn't borrow and read to us." Vi said, excitedly.  
"This is sort of like meeting a celebrity. I mean there are pages and pages about Angelus. You are one of the most famous vampires ever. Think I can get your autograph before you go back to LA?" Another slayer asked.  
Faith appeared in the doorway. "Yo, Slayerettes, get your butts in here and sit down. Buffy has something she wants to tell you."  
The girls fell into line and assembled somewhat peacefully in the living room. Buffy walked over to Angel and tiptoed to kiss him. "You sure you still want to adopt all my girls?" she teased.  
"Wow, they are like wild animals. They scent blood and they attack." Angel said, still in shock. "Teenage girls have changed a lot since my time."  
"I thought I taught you that lesson."  
"You, Buffy, you-you were never like that, Thank God."  
Buffy laughed and led him into the house.  
  
Buffy did the talking. Angel reclined against the door frame and watched her, something he never tired of doing. She really was wonderful the way she handled the girls. He could still see the spark and fire he'd been so drawn to the first time he saw her, but she had grown up into an amazing woman.  
"Ok, I've got really good news for you all. I know we're kind of cramped in this house. Angel owns a very large law firm in a very big building in Los Angeles. He has invited me to move our training school there. He's given us an entire floor of suites, a huge, beautiful new training room, and a room for you all to do your schoolwork in. I've already talked to Faith and Robin about it, and everyone here will be moving there, as soon as possible."  
Vi's hand shot up in the air and she begin speaking before Buffy actually said anything to her. "Ok, but if you and Angel do IT, won't he lose his soul and become evil again, because when he does, I'd really like to be here, instead of there."  
Buffy blushed. "Willow did a spell. Angel can't lose his soul. He will not go evil. And furthermore, that's none of your business."  
"I'm just saying." Vi said.  
"Ok. Anymore questions?" Several hands shot up in the air. "That don't include Angel." Buffy said. The hands all went down.  
"Alright then. Everyone go pack and then get some sleep. Faith and Robin are going to be waking you up early and putting you on the Sunnydale bus tomorrow morning."  
The girls scattered, all chattering at each other as they went to their room to pack the few things they had.  
"Are they always like this?" Angel asked.  
Buffy shrugged. "When they get used to you they'll be better. They like the shock value of seeing if they can get to you. They are right about one thing though, you are gorgeous."  
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss unintentionally turned into a heated, passionate one.  
"You know, if your gonna suck face like that, you really should pick a bedroom and lock the doors. You never know when one of the girls will walk in here." Faith said as she flopped onto the couch with a grin.  
Buffy looked properly chagrined. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.  
"Me, personally, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed for a week if I'd hadn't had sex in a century." Faith winked at Buffy.  
"And on that note, need anything before we go?" Buffy asked.  
"Nope. I think everything here is five by five. Robin and I should pull into LA around 10 tomorrow. We're going straight to the garage right?" Faith confirmed.  
Angel nodded. "I've told them to expect a yellow school bus tomorrow morning and they are to let you by. When you get to the lobby talk to the front desk. There should be and ID card for you, Faith and keycards for all the girls' suites. They can have their ID cards made later in the week once they get settled. Buffy and I will meet you on the 43rd floor."  
"We're cool here then. Have fun and we'll see you in the AM."  
  
* * *  
  
The Sunnydale school bus pulled into Wolfram and Hart's garage at exactly 10:15. 15 girls, Robin, Faith and Andrew filed off. Each girl had a duffel bag, every possession they owned, thrown over her shoulder. They all managed to get crammed into an elevator somehow and even more miraculously survived Andrew's whining about being claustrophobic on the way up to the lobby.  
"Andrew, I swear to God, when I'm done with you, you won't need to worry about claustrophobia if you don't shut the hell up." Faith warned.  
The elevator doors slid open. Vi was the first one to step out into the beautiful glass and marble entrance. "Holy God, I think we just won the lottery." 


	11. Lessons

Title: Lessons  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
Special thanks to Manda for helping with my fight scenes!  
  
Chapter 11  
  
It took a full two weeks for the slayerettes, as Faith called them, to get settled. Robin was invaluable in getting the girls straightened out and on a schedule. He claimed that after dealing with a high school, one set on a Hellmouth none the less, full of teenagers, 15 girls were pie.  
Robin and Faith had a large apartment at one end of the hall of suites. Willow's apartment was at the other end of the hall. Buffy has consented and let Dawn stay in the suite across from Willow's apartment. There were 2 girls to each suite. The suites had 2 double beds and a bathroom. There was also a small TV and refrigerator. They reminded Buffy very much of dorm rooms with nicer furniture.  
The girls were very excited about the huge training room Angel had had built for them in the basement. It was a big beautiful open room with padded floors and walls. There were training dummies, a vaulting horse, punching bag and a weapons case with a large variety of weapons. There was also a killer sound system. The finishing touches on it had just been finished a few days ago. Faith and Buffy had been letting the girls use the training room very informally, to get them acquainted with it. Buffy had gathered them for their first organized lesson that morning. They were sitting against one wall, dressed in a variety of workout clothing.  
Buffy stood before them, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was dressed in sweatpants and a tank top. "Okay, we've kind of slacked off on the lessons since moving in here. That ends today. You all know Giles will be sending some of you to various posts to meet up with some of the watchers he's been working with. We've really got to step up the training and make sure you'll all ready to handle things on your own, " Buffy paced back and forth slowly as she talked, twirling a stake in her hand like a movie gunslinger. "You all know that as a rule, vamps get more powerful as they get older. Excluding the Ubervamps, until now what you have all faced have been relatively young vampires. I'm going to show you today what fighting a very powerful, very old vampire one on one can be like."  
Angel stepped into the room. Buffy felt her mouth go dry. He was dressed in black sweats and a white wife beater. She regained her composure and turned back to the girls. "First all, very important," Buffy held her stake aloft "blunted stake, so when I do kick Angel's ass, I don't accidentally dust him."  
Angel chuckled. "She's feeling pretty confident. "He addressed the slayerettes. "But I've been busy since I came to Los Angeles and I've learned a few new moves. It may be you getting your ass kicked." He grinned playfully at Buffy.  
Buffy laughed. "I've been busy too. What was I doing?" Buffy pondered playfully a moment. "Oh yah, there was the whole kicking a goddess' ass. I think I can take you." She winked at Angel. She took up an offensive fighting stance and opened the fight with a roundhouse punch. With a swift upward raise of his arm, Angel blocked it easily, grabbing her wrist and twisting. Buffy flipped with it, landing on her feet. Crossing to her left, she feigned her right shoulder, leading him in the direction she wanted. As a tiger leading its prey into a trap, she threw a jab with her left hand, catching him in the jaw, knocking him back a couple of steps. Staggering slightly he shook his head, reaching back he swung his arm in a tight arc. His hook punch hit her hard, knocking Buffy on her back, her right leg pulled up to her chest. Angel moved quickly, landing in a crouch over her. He let his vamp face slide into place and growled. Buffy gave a quick thrust of her leg, throwing him over her body. Kicking up, she spun around to face Angel as he picked himself up off the floor. There was laughter in both of their eyes.  
The two hesitated for a moment, looking at each other. They didn't notice that Gunn, Giles and Wesley had snuck into the training room and were watching from the doorway. Angel lunged, coming at Buffy with a hay- maker. She ducked under his arm easily and came up behind him. He threw an elbow, hoping to catch her off guard. Buffy ducked, feeling the rush of air as Angel almost connected. Turning Angel tightened up, making himself ready for a combination of punches, jab, straight, hook, jab..... Buffy grabbed his wrist in a lightening flash move, pulling him off his feet, and pressing her other hand against his elbow, she threw Angel across the room. He landed on his back. A human would have had the breath knocked out of them, possibly something broken. Angel kicked up, landing on his feet. Buffy launched a roundhouse kick to Angel's stomach. He caught her ankle and tossed her, flipping her in the air. Buffy kept her body tucked in and landed in a crouch on her feet. She fell to the side like a prowling cat, supporting herself with her arms and swept her feet under Angel. He was wise to her move though and jumped over her feet. Buffy pushed herself up.  
Angel hesitated and then threw a sharp jab Buffy blocked it with her forearm. Angel reached out with his other hand and grabbed her arm. He spun her around and tucked her back against his body. Buffy waited until he had ducked his head preparing for a mock bite, then she head butted him hard. He released her arms. She caught him with an elbow to the face. She flew into a half spinning in-to-out crescent kick. Angel ducked but was knocked to the floor when Buffy kept spinning and caught him with a back leg sweep. She pounced, before he could recover from her assault, straddling him and holding the stake to his chest, just over his heart.  
Angel held his hands up in surrender. "You got me." He chuckled.  
Buffy stood up and twirled her stake again. "I think its possible Angel was holding out on me. If he'd really wanted to hurt me, I probably still would have kicked his ass." She winked at him, "but I would have come out of it pretty beaten up. The vampires and demons you guys meet aren't going to hold back on you and you can't hold back with them." Buffy turned to Angel. "Are you up for teaching some lessons?" she asked him.  
"I think I can take it." He responded with a smirk.  
"Alright then, who wants to fight Angel next?" Buffy asked holding out her blunted stake.  
  
Gunn had watched their fight in awe. "Wow, I've seen Faith do some serious throw downs, but the last time she fought Angel she ended up on the losing end. Buffy totally handled him."  
Giles beamed with pride. "Buffy has always been incredibly gifted. I'm afraid my journals don't really do her justice. She was always a natural when it came to slaying. "And to be fair to Angel, he hesitated in striking Buffy." Wesley came to Angel's defense.  
"I saw that. She still wiped the floor with him." Gunn said as he turned and walked back down the hall. * * *  
Buffy signaled for the girls to stay back. She crept to the broken out window of the old warehouse. She could count 8 vampires. They had at least 3 people chained up inside waiting to for the all you can eat buffet. She worried her lip between her teeth. She snuck back to where Angel waited with Kennedy, Vi and Rona.  
"I counted 8. They've got 3 unwilling participants for a smorgasbord. You three ready to go in?" Buffy looked each of the girls in the eyes. They nodded. Vi had a crossbow; she loaded it up and checked her waistband for a stake. Kennedy and Rona grabbed their stakes and stowed a couple of extras in their pockets.  
Buffy and Angel led the attack. Their entry point was a broken window in a corner of the big building. Angel eased his leather duster over the jagged pieces of glass and let the girls slip through the window first. Buffy, Kennedy and Vi got through cleanly. Rona tripped and fell. 8 pairs of glowing yellow eyes turned their way.  
"Who called for delivery?" One of the vamps chuckled as he made his way toward the girls.  
"That would be me." Angel said as he leapt through the window already in game face.  
Everything exploded into a flurry of action. Buffy staked one vamp as it ran to attack her. She jammed her elbow back into the face of another. He howled. She took another out with a spinning back hook kick. She tried to watch the girls out of the corner of her eye. Angel was handling himself. She could hear Kennedy making wise cracks as she fought the vamps. Rona seemed to have things under control. She had her vamp on retreat. Vi had just staked one and nearly gotten taken down in the process of doing a victory dance. She was recovering nicely. Buffy tried to get a visual on Kennedy but was rushed by another vamp.  
He caught her off guard with a right hook. She landed on her back but rolled and came up to her feet. She landed a solid series of jabs and hooks to the vamp. She finished him off with a side kick to his head and a stake to the heart. She looked up, having a moment to survey the damage around her. Kennedy was being held by a vamp, there was a second one advancing on her.  
"Hey! Ugly!" Buffy yelled, trying to distract him as she ran toward him. She was focused on getting to Kennedy before she turned into a snack. She didn't even notice one of the vamps Angel had beaten down reach out and grab her ankle. She went down hard, jarring her chin on the concrete flooring. Buffy struggled against the blackness that tried to engulf her. The sound and the chaos of the fight faded away. The last thing she heard was her stake hit the concrete. 


	12. Wild Goose Chase

Title: Wild Goose Chase  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
**Minor Character death ahead**  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Buffy looked around her. She was in a pool of cool water. A waterfall poured soundlessly behind her. There were muffled voices in the distance, but she couldn't concentrate on them. Her head hurt when she did. The old woman walked across the water, on top of the water, toward her. She extended a hand to Buffy. Buffy took the woman's hand and was easily lifted out of the pool. She walked on top of the water to the waterfall with the woman.  
The woman sat down on a ledge near the waterfall. She patted the rock next to her and motioned for Buffy to sit also. She noticed that both she and the woman were perfectly dry. The woman smiled at her.  
"You're the one with the scythe. Caleb killed you." Buffy said.  
The woman nodded. "On that plane of existence. Now hush child. I have things to tell you and they are already wanting you back. I don't have long. The book your Ionuin has won't help and it will only drive the one trying to translate it insane. The spectacles used to read the book were crushed long ago. There is a temple within a cave. It was abandoned before men had such things as letters and words. It was once in a village believed to be Huanuaca. Find the temple, inside-"  
Buffy floated to the surface and the woman's voice faded away. Angel was there with a cool cloth pressed to her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open. Angel hovered, concern etching every line of his face and overflowing his dark eyes. Have his eyes always been this dark, Buffy wondered.  
"Buffy," Angel gathered her in his arms and held her tightly.  
"The girls?" Buffy asked.  
"Vi and Rona are fine." Angel dismissed. "How are you feeling? You've been out for a little while."  
"Kennedy?"  
Angel grimaced and shook his head. "They drained her."  
"Oh God," Buffy felt dizzy again. "Willow?"  
"She knows. She's okay. Xander is with her."  
Buffy nodded. "My face?"  
Angel almost smiled, but knew it would have hurt her. At times like this she was still so much the girl he'd fallen in love with. "Beautiful."  
Buffy gave him a your-no-help look. "You're sweet, and still a terrible liar. My chin hurts"  
"Three stitches. The doctor says it shouldn't scar, especially with your healing abilities." Angel said.  
Buffy wrinkled her nose. Angel kissed the tip of her nose and smoothed the hair back from her face. "You've got 2 girls outside that would really like to see your okay. Up for a little bit of company?" Angel asked.  
"Short visit." Buffy said.  
Angel let Vi and Rona into the bedroom. They were a flurry of words and movement and tears. Buffy assured them a dozen times she was okay.  
"When you got hurt, Angel lost it. Totally went vamp face. He tore a guy's head completely off his body! I didn't even know you could dust a vamp that way!" Rona exclaimed.  
"It was wicked cool. He kicked another vamp completely through a window, impaled him on a fence. He even burned the building down. Totally postal Angel, not-"Vi rambled excitedly beside Rona. Angel interrupted her.  
"Why don't we spare Buffy the details? I bet she's still woozy from the blow to the head."  
"Oh, blow to the head, Angel, get Giles and Wesley. I had another dream with the Guardian Woman in it." Buffy remembered.  
"Buffy, you should rest." Angel insisted.  
"No, if I don't tell them now I'll forget it. After they leave I'll sleep, I promise."  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
"All my research indicates that the ancient village of Huanuaca is now underground, if it even existed at all. There is really no evidence to support that it did. Are you positive the woman said Huanuaca?" Wesley asked Buffy for the third time.  
"Yes, Wes. I got knocked out, not brain damaged. She said Huanuaca." Buffy snapped. "There was waterfall. It seemed like everything around me was water. Maybe there were cliffs too. I'm not really sure." She ran her hands through her long blond hair in frustration.  
"Here's something," Giles said stepping from the stacks. He held an ancient book in his hands. "Legend tells of the village of Huanuaca was pulled into the ground by an ancient evil-"  
"Great, I just defeated THE ancient evil. What more do they want from me?" Buffy grumbled.  
Giles looked up at her and continued reading. "If such a village existed, archeologists place the village approximately 100 miles from Paraguay in a vast jungle. It would be an archeology miracle if it were found. I can only imagine the artifacts buried there."  
"Excellent, so we get to go tromping through a jungle now?" Buffy asked. *  
  
*  
  
*  
Angel walked into his office, the latest reports from Fred's lab in his hand. He had tried to get her to write in simple layman's terms, but even simple to Fred was more then most people without physicists degrees could comprehend. He rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache. "And just when I thought the economy sized bottle of aspirin would do." He said in greeting to the woman sitting in his office.  
"It's nice to see you to, Angel." Eve said. "You know, I really thought you'd be in a much better mood now that you're getting laid."  
"And yet somehow you manage to bring out the worst in me." He said.  
"No, I think the worst would be something along the lines of what you did to that warehouse and the vamps inside." Eve said.  
"They hurt Buffy. Do the Senior Partners all the sudden have problems with me killing vampires and burning down abandoned buildings?"  
"No. They aren't happy though." Eve said.  
"And please, let me take this opportunity to express to them how much I really don't care." Angel said.  
"Tsk tsk. They didn't plan on you getting an anchored soul and all. It's been no secret that when the big battle comes down they want you on their side. They're throwing a fit because their favorite toy got broken." She said.  
"I am not a toy for the Senior Partners. If they have a problem with my soul, I really don't give a damn."  
Eve shrugged. "I'll relay the message then."  
"And next time, why don't you just call." Angel growled.  
"Aww, now don't be like that. You didn't seem to mind when I was naked." Eve teased.  
"That was under a spell. I like my women a little less evil." Angel grabbed her by the arm and steered her out of his office. "Again, let me encourage you to use the phone next time, or even an in-house memo." He slammed the door shut. *  
  
*  
  
*  
Buffy stirred and looked out the window of the private jet. Everything below her was a deep green/black. The sun was beginning to set and it cast deep shadows on the land below. The pilot informed them they would be landing in Paraguay in a half hour. Angel woke at the sound of the intercom.  
"Sleep well?" Buffy asked.  
"Yeah. You?"  
Buffy nodded. "I've never been on a private jet before. It's comfy." She bounced once in her seat.  
"It looks like it will be dark when we land." Angel said peering out the window. "That means we can get started right away. Giles has some sort of contact that's going to meet us at the archeology museum."  
Buffy wrinkled her nose. "I've heard South America is a great vacation spot. Maybe we could honeymoon for a couple of days before taking care of this book thing?"  
"Buffy, as much as I'd like to honeymoon, and aren't those for after you get married, we need to get this book. I want to find out as much as possible about the shanshu prophecy. Besides, Giles has got a lot going back in LA with the slayerettes and the watchers. He could use both our help."  
"I know," Buffy pouted. "I'm just being selfish. I want you all to myself."  
"We do have a hotel room reserved in Paraguay and when we're done at the museum, we'll want to make sure we're well rested for our trek through the jungle. Alone time is always restful for me." Angel teased her with a kiss.  
"Mmmm, and we can't see these archeologist guys after we land?" Buffy purred.  
"Afraid not, but we do have about twenty minutes. The pilots won't come in here without knocking." Angel suggested.  
"What you wasting time with words for then." *  
  
*  
  
*  
Giles had gone on for hours about the archeology museum in Paraguay. Buffy could see why. They had some pretty impressive displays. Angel was fascinated with anything that was older then he was, and that covered pretty much everything here.  
The archeologists they spoke to were very polite. They were fortunate that Angel spoke fluent Spanish, as the archeologists' English was quite poor. The downside to that was, Buffy was immeasurably bored. She wondered around the room while the three men talked.  
There was a beautiful urn sitting out on display. It had runes of some sort carved into it. They seemed familiar. Buffy was certain she'd seen them in one of Giles' books. She reached out to pick the urn up and have a closer look when one of the archeologists burst out "No! No touch. Very old." He looked sternly at her.  
"ok, geez. I just wanted to get a closer look at the runes on this." Buffy kept her hands in her pockets after that and slinked about the room. She was happy when Angel told them goodbye and lead her out of the museum.  
"So what did you find out?" Buffy asked.  
"They know the general area the village is rumored to be in, but they'll only take us so far. They say the village is cursed. We head out tomorrow at sunset."  
"Cursed, great, read stinky demons of some sort." Buffy grumbled.  
"Probably. Apparently they know Giles from when he worked at the British museum. They don't actually know anything about demons. I had a heck of a time convincing them we could not leave in the morning."  
"So, what now?" Buffy asked.  
"I'd like to check around some and see if we can't get a handle on what it is that the archeologists are so scared of. They gave me a couple of names and places. We'll hit those first and see what comes up."  
  
What came up was a demon that went by the name of Khan. He was in charge of the supernatural black market in Paraguay. His headquarters were housed in an old, ramshackle warehouse in the middle of Paraguay. It wasn't the best part of town. Two large Fyral demons stood just inside the warehouse, obviously the muscle in the place.  
"We're here to see Khan." Angel stated.  
"You have an appointment?" one of demons asked.  
"I just pulled into town and learned he was the man to see if you needed anything in this city." Angel said.  
"You don't see Khan without an appointment. He's a busy man." The Fyral said.  
"I'm sure he is and I hate to intrude. Maybe I can do something to make it better." Angel pulled several bills out of his pocket and handed them to the Fyral.  
"I'll see if he's got an opening. Wait here."  
The Fyral disappeared into the darkness of the warehouse. He came back shortly.  
"You're lucky. Khan has a few minutes to speak with you."  
They were led along the wall of the dimly lit building. The Fyral stopped at a large steel door. He opened it and beckoned them through. They walked up a flight of stairs and into a smaller room that had obviously held offices for the warehouse at one point. There were a few vinyl chairs that had seen better days.  
"You can wait here. Khan will be with you in a moment."  
They both paced, waiting for Khan. "I'm really not feeling so good about this, Angel." Buffy said  
"Neither am I, but let's give it a few moments and see if this Khan is a reasonable demon."  
"I assure you. I am quite reasonable. I certainly wouldn't have made it in business thus far if I wasn't." A Brachen demon stepped out of the inner office. He was dressed in an Armani suit.  
"Khan I assume." Angel stepped toward the demon.  
"I am. And you are?"  
"Angel and this is Buffy."  
The demon shook Angel's hand. "Vampire?"  
Angel nodded.  
Khan took Buffy's hand and kissed the back of it. He sniffed the air and looked curious. "You smell different. You aren't completely human?"  
"No, I'm human. I'm a vampire slayer." Buffy had blurted it out before Angel could warn her to keep quiet.  
"Slayer? You brought a slayer here?" The Brachen turned on Angel, his bright blue spikes bristling.  
Angel backed away, palms up. "We're here purely on an information seeking mission. I'm even willing to pay for the information."  
Khan raked his eyes over Buffy and Angel once more, fixing them with a hard look. "Come in my office then."  
Khan's office didn't resemble anything in the warehouse. It was beautifully decorated with expensive rugs and priceless pieces of art. Angel was pretty sure the Dali hanging on the wall was original. The desk was a heavy Chippendale original and the chairs were made of Italian leather. He offered them both Cuban cigars from a humidor.  
"Now, what sort of information did you come all this way for?"  
"An ancient village, supposedly swallowed by the earth, named Huanuaca. I know the approximant location but that's about it." Angel said.  
Khan thoughtfully smoked on his cigar, taking his time before finally speaking. "No supposedly about it. The entire village was swallowed up maybe in the 4th century. No one knows exactly what happened. There are legends and rumors of course." Khan fixed Buffy with his red gaze. "Some say an ancient evil attempted to rise. A girl, a slayer thwarted its plans, somehow the whole village was pulled underground." Khan shrugged. "That's just one of the legends. There are plenty of others. Locals say a dragon lives in the village now. I'm not sure how the locals would know since none of them have actually been in the caverns holding the village, but you know how talk goes."  
"The guides who are taking us part of the way, they say the jungle is full of monsters. They'll only go so far. Any idea of exactly what kind of monsters?" Angel questioned.  
"Insectoid of some kind. Swords, axes things like that seem to work well against them. I'm curious what do you want in Huanuaca?"  
"I'm trying to find out information about a book."  
Khan laughed. "Supposedly there is ancient Aztec gold and treasures to rival King Solomon's mines. You're looking for a book?"  
Angel shook his head. "I've got the book. I'm just following leads now."  
Khan stood up, indicating the meeting was over. "Good luck Vampire. Be careful where you take your slayer. Lots of demons around here won't be as hospitable toward her as I was."  
"I can take care of myself." Buffy bristled.  
Khan chuckled. "I believe you. I had an opportunity to see a slayer in action a several decades ago, truly amazing creatures." *  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*Author's note* I wanted to apologize to those of you who might have liked Kennedy ( I know there are at least a few out there) I didn't really intend to kill her off, it just sort of happened and I found when I was writing it I could find no remorse. In fact I fought doing the dance of joy, sorry. 


	13. The Guardian

Title: The Guardian  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!  
  
It's a long chapter but I just didn't see any other place to end it properly! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and given suggestions!!  
  
Chapter 13  
  
Buffy and Angel trekked through what seemed like miles of jungle. The foliage fought against them, loathe to allow them entrance. Angel hacked at vines, small trees and other plants with a massive battle axe. Buffy carried a long sword.  
"So much for Giles' crackpot connections actually taking us anywhere." Buffy said.  
The archeologists had bailed on them. When they arrived at the museum ready to go, they found it locked it up tight. There was a jeep sitting in the back parking lot, keys under the floor mat and a note apologizing, but they could not take the risk. There had also been a hand drawn map in the glove box.  
"I can't help but think someone, or something got to them and scared them. They were guarded last night, but amicable to taking us at least part of the way." Angel said.  
The jungle was alive with sounds and scents. The thick humid air seemed to dampen sounds and made it hard to judge which direction they were coming from. Angel stopped. Buffy ran into him.  
"What's the what?" Buffy said.  
Angel shook his head and held his finger to his lips. He was listening for something. "Be ready."  
She didn't have time to ask for what before a tawny furred creature resembling a lion burst through the underbrush. Buffy ducked and the creature jumped over her. She spun, and barely got her sword up in time to block the creature's paw swipe at her.  
"What the hell are these, Angel?"  
"Manticores," Angel yelled. He was battling two of the lion like creatures. "Watch their tails, they have poisonous spines."  
"I'm kind of busy watching his claws right now." She yelled back.  
The manticore fell back, favoring the paw Buffy had cut. She thought it was turning tail to run. She hit the ground just before a cloud of spines shot her way. She rolled as the manticore jumped at her again. This time, he had anticipated her maneuver and he was right on target. Buffy closed her eyes and braced the hilt of her sword in her abdomen. The breath was knocked out of her as the manticore impaled itself on her sword. It's eerily human face hovering just inches, above her own. Buffy wrinkled her nose and shoved the heavy lion like creature off.  
Angel was battling two of the creatures and he seemed a bit worse for the wear. There was a jagged bite on his shoulder and the smell of blood excited the manticores even more. Apparently they didn't mind eating vampire flesh, nor did they appear to mind the many gashes and cuts Angel had made with his axe.  
Angel swung his axe in a wide arc. The manticores took a step back, but they weren't about to leave a fresh meal. He saw Buffy out of the corner of his eye. She was sneaking up on the one on his left, giving the waving tail wide berth. He swung his ax at the creatures' heads again. The one of his right wasn't as quick and its head sliced off cleanly. Buffy sliced deeply into the front haunches of the manticore. It gave an anguished cry and turned. It managed to swipe Buffy across the thigh before tumbling to the ground. It wasn't dead though. Buffy ducked again as it shot spines at her from it's tail. She raised her sword over her head and cut deeply into the manticore's neck. It twitched, flinging spikes from it's tail one more time and then went still.  
"Well, that was fun." Buffy said "Although, major ewww factor. How's your shoulder?" She looked at the gnawed upon shoulder, slightly concerned.  
Angel shrugged and shook his head. "It will be fine. It was more of a glancing bite then a deep one. I don't understand. Manticores are supposed to be in the jungles of India, not South America."  
Buffy shrugged. "Maybe this ancient evil guy had them shipped here to guard his temple thingy."  
"Which makes me wonder what else we're going to encounter." Angel said.  
"I miss vampires. Plunge, stake, pile of dust." Buffy said with a pout.  
Angel chuckled. "Come on. I want to make sure we're in those caves by sunrise."  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
It was getting close to sunrise. Angel didn't say anything, but he was getting worried. He hacked through the growth faster and urged Buffy along with greater intensity. They broke through the brush, and nearly fell 20 feet into a pool of water. There was no way around it.  
"Great, sunrise is about a half an hour away. I guess we'll go back into the jungle and just try and find some heavy foliage to wait the day out." Angel grumbled.  
"No, Angel this is it. This is the place in my dream." Buffy said.  
"Buffy, there isn't any place to hide from the sun down there." Angel said looking down into the water.  
"Angel, trust me. It's my dream. There's a ledge next to the waterfall." Buffy said.  
"Big enough to hide under?" Angel asked.  
Buffy shook her head. "Haven't you ever seen Romancing the Stone or Last of the Mohicans or any other movie with a waterfall? There are always caves behind the waterfall." Buffy took a running start and jumped off the cliff.  
"Buffy!" Angel yelled, plunging in behind her.  
  
The water was delightfully cool and very deep. They swam toward the waterfall and pulled themselves up on the ledge the old woman in her dream had shown her.  
"Careful, Buffy, its slick." Angel warned, always protective.  
Buffy nodded, taking small steps, one hand against the wet, rocky wall. The sound was deafening near the waterfall. The ledge continued through the waterfall. The force of the water nearly knocked Buffy down. She slipped and Angel caught her by the arm.  
There was a shallow alcove behind the waterfall and a small cave near the back. They would have to crawl through and it was going to be a tight fit for Angel. He stripped off his wet leather duster and long sleeved tee and stuffed them in the backpack.  
"Take your pack off and push it ahead of you. I'll go first. I want to make sure there's nothing living in there or worse, that it drops off unexpectedly." Angel said.  
Buffy nodded and begin taking her pack off.  
Angel pulled his shoulders in and crawled on his belly into the tiny cave. He was grateful for his excellent night vision. He didn't think he could have held a flashlight and crawled through the tight space at once.  
After about 50 yards the blood from scraping his shoulders against the rock walls made things slicker, and easier to crawl. After 200 yards the shoot opened up into a gorgeous cavern with amethyst stalactites spiking the ceiling.  
"Come on, Buffy, you need to see this, it's beautiful." Angel said as he bent down, grabbing Buffy's pack and her hand.  
"Oh, wow." Buffy looked around. The stalactites reminded her of crystal chandeliers. The cavern was huge. There was a small waterfall that poured into a clear pool at one end. The floor was hard and level.  
They agreed it was a good place to rest. They were both exhausted from hacking through stubborn foliage all night, not to mention the fight with the manticores. They rummaged around in their packs. Angel had a dry ice thermos filled with blood. Buffy had beef jerky, crackers and peanut butter. They ate and stretched out on the hard floor. Buffy snuggled up against Angel, pillowing her head against his chest. He used his pack as pillow. Buffy had brought a blanket. She sighed. Her last thought was there's no way I'll actually fall asleep on this hard floor.  
Angel smiled down at Buffy, sleeping deeply. Her soft breathing had become a lullaby for him to sleep too. He couldn't remember how he had once tolerated sleeping without the soft whoosh of her breathing or the deep thump of her heart.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
Buffy woke with a groan. Her entire body ached, whether from sleeping on the ground or fighting the jungle, she wasn't sure. It was impossible to tell what time it was in the cavern. Angel was sitting just outside the bluish glow of their lantern. He rose and walked over to her when he noticed she was awake. He held a stack of peanut butter crackers out for her.  
"I made you breakfast." He grinned. "Not much of one, I know. I promise you waffles with strawberries and whipped cream when we get home."  
"Mmm, I'll eat these and pretend." Buffy said.  
She wolfed down the crackers, not realizing how hungry she had been and drank a bottle of water. She looked longingly at the small pool. "Do we have time?" She indicated the pool.  
Angel nodded.  
"Good. I want to lather rinse and repeat until manticore blood, jungle sweat and cave dust is all gone."  
"Would this lather rinse and repeat involve you without clothes?" Angel asked mischievously.  
"Why, yes, yes I believe it would." Buffy said coyly. *  
  
*  
There were 3 tunnels branching off the main cavern. Thankfully, they were all big enough for Angel to walk though.  
"So, which one do we take?" Buffy said, regarding the three tunnels.  
Angel stepped to the opening of each and sniffed. "Its odd tunnels one and three smell like a cave, damp earthy, cave like. I can't smell anything from tunnel two."  
"I vote for the less stinky tunnel, personally." Buffy said.  
Angel shook his head. "It's not normal. It's not that tunnel two is less stinky. There's a complete absence of smell. Stay here, I'm going to walk a few feet in and check it out."  
Angel disappeared into the tunnel for a few minutes. He returned shaking his head. "There's no smell, there's no sound, yet the floor is covered in water. There should be the sound of water dripping."  
"Deep water?" Buffy asked.  
Angel shook his head, "An inch, maybe two at the most."  
"That's it, Angel. That's our tunnel. The first dream I had. The floor of the Bronze was covered in water. The second dream I had the old lady and I were walking on water. Also, the waterfall in my dream had no sound."  
"I don't like it." Angel persisted.  
"Well I'm prophecy dream girl and I say we take tunnel 2. Besides, 2 dreams, tunnel 2." Buffy said, forging ahead before Angel could protest.  
  
She wasn't sure how far they'd gone. There were moments she was sure they had walked miles and yet it seemed the opening to the tunnel was just a few yards away. The tunnel was odd. There was no smell, no sound; even their feet didn't make noise. It had widened out into a cave about a hundred yards across.  
"Angel, shouldn't be there be an echo?" Buffy said, listening closely for one.  
"You would think, but there's nothing normal about this tunnel."  
Buffy raised her voice slightly, testing her theory. "Hello,"  
There was no echoing response back. "That was loud enough. There should have been an echo." She said resolutely.  
There was a roar, the first sound they had heard the cave make. Buffy paled. Angel took a deep, unnecessary breathe and raised his ax in a defensive stance.  
"I guess I got my answer, wasn't really the one I was looking for though." Buffy said quietly as she stood behind Angel, her sword raised.  
They advanced forward, slowly. Angel took note of everything around them. The ceiling was peppered with crystal stalactites. The floor littered with groupings of sharp stalagmites. They weren't ideal fighting grounds, but if the roar they heard was any indication, something was getting closer.  
"Spread out. I only hear one roar, two of us. We should be ok." Angel said.  
A gout of flame shot from the same direction the roar had come from.  
"Uhm, Angel, ever hear of speaking to soon? Possible running might be an option right now." Buffy said.  
Angel shook his head. "No, this is our tunnel. We're not going to get anything but pretty rock formations and cave dust from the other two. Be ready, here it comes."  
Buffy liked it when the locales were wrong about legends. She liked it when mothers made up nightmare monsters to keep their kids out of caves or to scare them into doing their chores. She hated it when those legends turned out to be all too real, like the two-headed fire breathing, scaled dragon in front of them.  
For a moment they seemed to study each other. The dragon was an incredible creature to behold. It was at least twenty feet tall. Its scales were shining obsidian black. Its heads were horned, sleek and full of needle sharp teeth. Fire licked the nostrils. It took a breath.  
"Buffy, down!" Angel screamed.  
She rolled just in time to avoid the column of flame that shot out of head number one. She could feel the heat licking at her boots. She rolled to her feet, sword in hand. "You know, this just ridiculous, I buy a new pair boots, some demon with something to prove trashes them. I'm really getting sick of it."  
"Buffy, now might not be-" Angel stopped mid sentence. The dragon had paused, looking at Buffy with amazement that this slip of a creature hadn't fainted upon sight of it.  
That hesitation was what Buffy had been hoping for. She charged forward, quicker then the dragon could track, and jumped as high as possible, using her sword as a camming device. She drove the sword into the dragon's chest. It roared in protest and shot flame. Using the sword for leverage, Buffy climbed higher, pulling the sword out and plunging it back in where she needed a handhold, until she'd reached its back and the base of its necks.  
Angel had a good idea of what she was up to and she was going to need his help. The dragon was distracted with Buffy using it for a rock climbing expedition. Angel backed up, giving himself as much room as possible, using his vampiric abilities he was able to jump and grab hold of the spiky mane that went the length of both the dragon's necks.  
Buffy looked down from her climbing spot just slightly above and one neck over from Angel. "Nice of you to join me, I think its good when couples do things together."  
He chuckled. He'd always taken Buffy's fighting banter for granted in Sunnydale. He hadn't realized how much he missed it. The dragon thrashed wildly, taking quite an exception to being used as a rock wall. It shot flame all over the cave, trying to find a way to get to them. Buffy was nearly tossed from her perch, but Angel caught her wrist. She dangled dangerously a moment before she managed to get a good grip on the dragon's neck again.  
Once they'd both made it to the top of the dragon's neck, Buffy looked over and nodded at Angel. Buffy drove her sword straight through the base of the dragon's skull and through its throat. She tumbled almost twenty feet to the hard ground when the dragon's first head and neck collapsed without a sound.  
Angel bit the ax deeply into the base of the dragon's other skull. He didn't have the advantage of 5 feet of steel to kill the creature instantly as Buffy had. The dragon thrashed with its dying throes. Angel flew through the air, closely followed by a spout of flame, and landed, impaled through the stomach by a stalagmite.  
"Angel!" Buffy got up and stumbled toward him. The dragon let out a final roaring scream and fell to the ground. The entire cave shook. "Oh, God, Angel." The blood stained his white long sleeved tee. Buffy remembered all the dreams she'd had of Angel's blood leaking through his shirts after she'd sent him to hell.  
"Buffy, help me get off this, but slowly." Angel's voice was tight and controlled with pain.  
Buffy bit her lower lip and nodded, blinking back tears. She had to help Angel and she couldn't if she was crying mess. She got underneath his shoulders and slowly levered his body up off the stalagmites. As gently as she could, she drug him to a smoother part of the cave floor and laid him down. Buffy rummaged through their packs and came up with her blanket. She placed one end underneath Angel and pressed the other end to his abdomen. The blood quickly soaked through the blanket. Her hands and fingers were soon covered in it. Buffy pushed herself away from Angel and retched at the sight of so much of his blood on her hands.  
"Buffy, I'll heal." He needed her to keep her wits about her, in case something came looking for the dragon.  
Buffy nodded and rejoined Angel at his side. The blood was already drying, crusting the blanket to his skin and forming a bandage of sorts. She got Angel's dry ice thermos from his pack and shook it. There wasn't much blood in it, if he drank it now there would be no blood for the trip back. Buffy shook her head. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it. He needed blood to heal. She'd feed him, herself on the way back if she had to.  
"Come on, Angel, take slow little sips. It'll speed up your healing." She helped him sit up, propping his body against her own.  
He finished the thermos and leaned back against her. "Just need to rest." He said. His voice was weak.  
The cave shimmered and the tunnel the dragon had come through disappeared. In its place was a temple carved from the solid rock of the cave. The guardian woman stood on the temple steps. She beckoned Buffy.  
"Angel, do you see her?"  
Angel nodded. "Old woman, yeah."  
"Can you stand?" Buffy asked, already helping him to his feet. They hobbled up the temple steps and inside. Buffy eased Angel down to an intricately tiled floor. There was a fountain inside and an altar to gods long forgotten. The guardian woman sat down on the floor beside Angel. Buffy held supported his head and shoulders.  
"You said you don't exist on this plane of existence." Buffy said to the woman.  
The woman chuckled softly. "It's you who doesn't exist on this plane. It's the only one I still exist on." The woman peeled the blanket away from Angel's wound. She eased his shirt up, exposing bare flesh with a nasty impalement wound. She clucked to herself. "This might tingle a bit, my dear." The woman said as she pressed her hands to the wound. Angel gasped in pain. The wound glowed red and then begin to close up. Soon all that remained was a red spot. "Stay down, you're going to be weak for awhile yet." The woman instructed. She then sat back on her heels.  
"I've been expecting you two."  
"Then why didn't you tell your guard dog to let us pass." Buffy said, her anger rising.  
The woman just smiled and shook her head. "I had to know if you were worthy, if you were the fated warriors that have been written about since the beginning of time."  
"Fated warriors?" Buffy asked.  
The woman nodded, as if Buffy should know exactly what she was talking about.  
"Ok, rewind. Last time I saw you, you told me you were a guardian and you'd forged the scythe."  
The woman nodded, still reluctant to give up her secrets.  
"Caleb breaks your neck and you decide to play games with Angel and I for fun?" Buffy said.  
The woman smiled again and shook her head. "These aren't games, child, Buffy wasn't it?" Buffy nodded and the woman continued. "This is where we hid. The village was ours long before it was anyone else's. When it was swallowed, by the same evil you fought, we returned, to wait. Deep within this temple are all the treasures Khan and your Mr. Giles have told you about, but we didn't put them here. The men after us did. That's why we had to hide it and make use of the dragon and the manticores. We couldn't risk being found. It has been foretold since before the forging of the scythe that two fated warriors would come, a vampire with a soul and a slayer. The Guardians did not think it could ever happen. After all, even if a vampire ever did possess a soul, it was sure the watchers would make certain a slayer never fell in love with him."  
The Guardian woman looked from Angel to Buffy. She saw the love between the two. "Do you know what a miracle your love is?" She looked at Buffy, "You are destined to fight creatures like him. Everything in your makeup screams to kill him, your blood, your instincts, and your mind. Yet your soul and your heart love him." The woman nodded her understanding and turned her gaze to Angel. "Since the first slayer, vampires have had reason to fear. She is your only natural enemy left upon this earth. The demon in you rebels every time you touch her. It screams for you to work its will, feed, kill, before she kills you. Yet your beautiful soul knows that before it was born in Liam, a part of it was split off and that part is in her."  
"Because of those things, the watchers dismissed the prophecies. The Guardians were not so foolish, but we were lax. We believed the book of the Guardian, scribed in this temple, would be safe. There had been precautions taken. A spell had been cast over the book. Anyone who tried to translate it, understand it, would over time lose their mind. A pair of spectacles had been crafted of magic that would allow one to read the book and understand what was written. The Guardians thought this would be enough. In the 12th century an explorer found our temple. He ransacked it, taking the book and many of the treasures within. He killed some of our order. It was after this that the dragon and the manticores were put into place."  
"The book was hidden again, buried under a church." Buffy said.  
The Guardian woman nodded. "A scholar got his hands on the book. He attempted to read it and thus we found that the spell on the book still held. A nun, thinking it was the work of the devil, buried the book on holy ground. There it stayed, until you discovered it a few months ago."  
"Can we get these spectacles or can you remove the spell so that we can use the information in this book?" Angel asked. His strength seemed to be coming back. His voice was stronger and he was sitting up on his own.  
The woman shook her head. "Sadly, no. The spectacles were crushed coincidently by the same man who stole the book."  
"Then this was for nothing? The jungle, the manticores, the dragon, Angel getting impaled. It was all for nothing?" Buffy asked, rage coloring her voice again.  
"No, it was not for nothing. Ask your questions." The woman said.  
Angel took a deep breath. "A friend, he thinks the book contains information about the shanshu prophecy. I'd like to know what it says."  
The woman smiled. "The shanshu prophecy is but a small part of the prophecy regarding the fated warriors, the prophecy that has existed since the beginning of time." The woman smiled warmly at Buffy. "I told you this in your dream."  
"The key?" Buffy asked.  
The woman nodded.  
"But I don't understand. Is there a key Angel needs to get?"  
"He already has it. It has been his since before his soul was born."  
Buffy wrinkled her brow, reviewing her dream and the woman's words. "Me?"  
The woman nodded. "You are the key. If Angel goes into the final battle without you, he will die a vampire's death. If you fight beside him, the final battle will be won, although not without losses, and the vampire with a soul will live to die."  
Angel struggled with the woman's words. He and Buffy had been prophesied from the beginning of time in a prophecy these guardian women had kept as secret as Buffy's scythe. He had put his shanshu, his humanity, in danger so many times because of a foolish notion that Buffy would be happier without him, the man she was fated to love.  
The woman smiled again. "It is a lot to take in, I know. Sleep. When you awaken it will be dark outside and you can begin your journey back." The woman stood and walked away, into an unseen room in the back of the temple.  
Buffy tucked herself under Angel's arm. They both felt an inexplicable weariness come over them. Somehow it felt safe here, the way it feels in Angel's arms, Buffy thought. There was no need to post a watch. There would be no demons, no manticores and no dragons to disturb their sleep. Despite the thoughts racing in their minds, Buffy and Angel both drifted off to sleep with soft smiles upon their faces.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*Not quite the end! 


	14. Home

Title: Home  
  
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com  
  
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! The songs are in italics. They are "I will love you" by Fisher and "She's my kind of rain" by Tim McGraw, so you see I know nothing!  
  
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.  
  
Distribution: If you want it just ask!  
  
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This was my first fanfic and it has been an experience I have really enjoyed, a lot of it that is due to ya'll letting me know you enjoyed the story. So yes, this part of the story is over. However I do have a sequel in mind. I've got a couple more stories I want to write first and I hate leaving stories unfinished. They just roam around in my mind nagging at me to go finish them. I hope everyone enjoyed this fanfic. It's my way of righting some of the wrongs that the rightful owners of Buffy and Angel have done to them. It's also my way of dealing with not enough Buffy and Angel on this season's Angel.  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Buffy woke up first. She resisted, as she always did. She was still not a morning person, even if that morning was actually night. The grass tickled her nose. She rubbed at it and groaned. She was almost blissfully asleep again when she realized, the grass tickled her nose. Buffy sat straight up.  
They were outside on the lush thick grass of the jungle. The black jeep they had borrowed was parked beside them. Angel was sleeping peacefully on the grass. He'd only stirred slightly when Buffy had woke up.  
She might have thought it was a dream, but her clothes were covered in blood, Angel's blood. Angel's white tee shirt was crusty brown with dried blood.  
"Angel, you might want to wake up." Buffy said, reaching out to lightly touch his shoulder.  
He woke slowly also, looking at her with sleepy eyes and giving her that half smile reserved only for her. It took him a moment to realize they were no longer inside the Guardian's temple. He sat up.  
"What happened?"  
Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. We fell asleep in the temple. I woke up here with you. It will save us an entire day though, which is good. I gave you the last of the blood after you had that unfortunate accident with the sharp pointy, although thankfully not wood, things."  
"Stalagmites." Angel said. "Which I seem to be healed of except for a little tenderness."  
"We got the information you needed, right?" Buffy asked.  
Angel smiled at her and kissed her tenderly. "Yes, although it was a long way to go to find out what I really already knew, if I'd just listened to myself.  
"You always were stubborn like that." *  
  
*  
  
*  
Giles, Wesley, Willow and Dawn were waiting anxiously in Wes' office to hear what Buffy and Angel had found out.  
"Manticores in South America? How fascinating. I was lead to believe they only populated the jungles of India." Wesley said.  
"Oh, trust me, they were populating South America." Buffy assured him.  
"And then you say you fought a dragon? A real one?" Giles commented.  
"No Giles, it was a fake one that threw Angel across the cave and onto some stag antlers." Buffy rolled her eyes.  
"Stalagmites." Angel said.  
Buffy and Angel continued with their story, skipping many of the things the Guardian woman had said.  
"In short, I'm the key." Buffy said.  
Giles looked narrowly at her. "The key to Angel's shanshu?"  
Buffy nodded. "She said that if Angel fights besides me in the final battle we will win and get his shanshu as a reward, if he doesn't-"Buffy bit her lip.  
"If I fight alone, I die as a vampire in the battle." Angel finished for her.  
Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them.  
"And you're sure the book can not be read?" Wesley asked.  
Angel nodded. "The Guardian seemed certain. All of our research supports that."  
"And we're sure she's on our side?" Wesley asked.  
Buffy nodded. "We wouldn't have been able to give Angel's amulet time to work without her help with the scythe. The First would have overrun us in a matter of minutes."  
"Well then," Wesley and Giles both were at a loss for words, each remembering the times they'd encouraged Buffy or Angel to move on with their lives, forget each other.  
  
-"I'll never forget, I'll never forget, I'll never forget."-  
  
Buffy shook her head. Where had that thought come from, she wondered and shrugged it off. She yawned.  
"I'm exhausted." She said.  
"Indeed, traveling will tend to do that to you. Tomorrow the watchers arrive and we begin to make final plans to send the girls to their posts." Giles reminded her.  
Buffy nodded. "Have you decided who you're going to send to Paris, instead of Kennedy?" Buffy's voice broke on Kennedy's name. It was hard every time she lost a slayer.  
Giles nodded. "Yes, I believe I'll send Elizabeth. She speaks fair French and is quite excited about the possibility. She should be able to handle herself."  
Buffy nodded and stood and stretched. Angel watched her. She reminded him of a graceful lioness. "Angel, you coming with?" He nodded and stood, taking her hand in his.  
"Goodnight guys, we'll see you bright and early in the morning."  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
The night before the wedding, the entire wedding party went out for dinner and dancing. They met at a beautiful restaurant/lounge. Angel arranged for a semi private room on the balcony above the dance floor. It was quiet enough that they could talk without yelling, but the music infiltrated the room with its smoky beats. Buffy looked over at Angel. He was relaxing against the curved couch, a bottle of Guinness in his hand. He was smiling in that relaxed, all is right with the world way. She sighed contently and leaned back against him. She whispered, knowing he would be able to catch what she was saying, even over the music. "Do you think anyone else in the entire world is this happy?"  
He leaned forward and kissed the scar on her neck "It's not possible." He whispered back.  
"Ok, lovebirds, I think there's a rule about making out the night before the wedding." Faith teased. Angel chuckled and smiled at her. He glanced at his watch. It was 11:45.  
"Speaking of which, one of has to leave." He looked at Buffy.  
"Huh?"  
"I'm old fashioned. I can't see you the day of the wedding. Its bad luck and it's now 11:45, so I've got to get out of here by midnight or it will be tomorrow." He said.  
She pouted.  
"Buffy, we talked about this. You're staying with Willow tonight."  
"I know, but-" Buffy said petulantly.  
"No, buts." He dropped a light kiss on her lips. "And smile, we're getting married tomorrow."  
She couldn't help but smile at that thought. "I guess that's what I get for marrying an old guy." She teased.  
Angel pulled her to him and kissed her. He meant for the kiss to be another light, parting kiss. Kissing Buffy was never light and made the parting even harder. Angel pulled away reluctantly. "Ok, I'm going really. I love you but if you come to the penthouse I'll strangle you." Angel teased her.  
"Alright, alright. I already have everything at Willow's apartment so I'll see you tomorrow at sunset?" Buffy said.  
Angel nodded. "I wouldn't miss it even if the world were ending."  
"Shoosh you, don't mention apocalypses on the night before our wedding. I'll be the one wearing white."  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
The Catholic chapel they had chosen was decorated beautifully. There was a white runner down the aisle. Pale pink rose petals literally covered the runner. Candlelight and moonlight provided the only light in the church. Angel had insisted on having the ceremony in a church. He had dreamt about it. Angel looked to his left. Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne wore tuxedos. Somehow they'd convinced Lorne that black, not yellow, red or magenta, was the right color for the occasion.  
Willow, Faith and Dawn wore sheath dresses of the palest pink. They walked down the aisle one at time, each smiling brightly. There was a collective gasp as Buffy appeared at the top of the aisle.  
He would never forget, for the rest of time, how she looked. It brought fast, sudden tears to eyes and he couldn't have taken a breath had he needed to. Her golden hair was pulled up on the crown of her head. Soft errant curls brushed her bare neck and shoulders. The only adornment on her neck was his mark.  
Her soft white gown was strapless with a princess bodice and a dropped waistline. The hem brushed the floor as she walked. The ball-gown style skirt was full and the silk rustled as she walked. The chapel length train dragged behind her. She was carrying pink tea roses and her green gray eyes were glistening with tears. He had never seen her smile so brilliantly. Ava Maria was supposed to be playing as she walked down the aisle. He didn't remember. He couldn't remember anything but her.  
"Who gives this woman?" the priest asked, breaking the sacred silence that had come over the chapel.  
"I do," Giles said, his voice broken with emotion. He hugged Buffy tightly and when he pulled away, he had very un-British like tears in his eyes.  
Buffy stepped up and took Angel's hands in her own. They had arranged for Lorne to sing a song, to give them both time to gather their emotions. They had known they wouldn't be able to actually speak for a few moments. Lorne stepped forward and picked up the microphone  
  
Til my body is dust,  
Til my soul is no more,  
I will love you, love you  
Til the sun starts to cry,  
And the moon turns to rust  
I will love you, love you.  
  
But I need to know  
Will you stay for all time-forever and a day.  
Then I'll give my heart til the end of all time- forever and a day.  
  
And I need to know will you stay for all time-forever and a day  
Then I'll give my heart til the end of all time- forever and a day  
  
Til the storms fill my eyes  
And we touch the last time  
I will love you, love you  
I will love you, love you  
  
The wedding vows they recited were traditional with one exception. Instead of promising to love each other until death do us part they promised to love each other until the end of time. Another thing Angel had been adamant about having. He knew, even in light of what the Guardian had told them, prophecies were wrong sometimes and there was a chance he would live long after Buffy's body was dust. Before they exchanged rings they both had things they wanted to say to each other, in front of all their friends. Buffy went first, because she was certain that whatever Angel said would make her cry.  
Buffy looked up at Angel, forgetting there was anyone in the room but her and him. "I told you once that I think I loved you before I was born. The more I think about that the more I'm sure it's true. The first night I met you, when you were following me, I felt you inside, like I feel you now. I used to wonder why I felt you inside, even when I didn't want to, even when it hurt. I finally realized I feel your soul. The tingly, whispery feeling in my stomach is my soul calling out to it's other half. We've spent so much time trying to deny the love we feel for each." Buffy looked down and took a breath, trying to keep herself together for the rest of her speech. "And I hate that and it's not fair, because if I got to spend a dozen lifetimes with you, it would never ever be enough."  
Angel looked at her through his tears. She had never been so beautiful in her life. "Buffy, you are my reason for everything. You're my reason for continuing in this life when it didn't seem like there was any reason. When I get bogged down with all the darkness and evil in this world, all I have to do is remember you and I know there is goodness and light. When you died, I thought I would die. I could stand to live my life without you, if I thought you would be happier, but I couldn't stand to live in a world without you in it. And then I remembered an impossible morning when it snowed in southern California. I remembered you, so fragile and small looking, telling me 'Strong is fighting and it's hard and it's everyday,' you would have never given up. I continued the good fight to honor you. I was afraid you were watching me from Heaven and I wanted you to be proud of me."  
Buffy reached up and gently wiped the tears away that streamed down Angel's face. Her own face was wet with tears. "I did watch you from Heaven, and I prayed for you. I hurt so much because you were hurting. Heaven was beautiful and wonderful and peaceful, but it wasn't quite right. You weren't there. You're my angel and without you even my life in heaven isn't right."  
Angel leaned over and kissed her. The priest cleared his throat, reminding them it was not kissing time. Their friends chuckled.  
The rings they exchanged were platinum claddagh rings, worn with the hearts pointing inward.  
A horse and carriage took them back to the Wolfram and Hart building. The reception was held in the Atrium. It had been re-decorated to a wonderland. There were tiny sparkling lights all over the place. The full moon shone down on them. Lorne provided the entertainment.  
"Let's get these fated warriors on the dance floor for their first dance as vampire and wife." Lorne urged them.  
Buffy shrugged and took Angel's hand, pulling him onto the floor. Angel smiled a secret smile as Lorne begin to sing. He and Lorne had gone over hundreds of songs and Angel had personally picked this one for their first dance. The words spoke volumes about what Buffy was to him.  
  
She's my kind of rain  
Like love in a drunken sky  
Confetti falling  
Down all night  
  
She sits there quietly  
Black water in a jar  
Says Baby why you  
Trembling like you are  
  
So I wait  
And I try  
I confess like a child  
  
She's my kind of rain  
Like love from a drunken sky  
Confetti falling  
Down all night  
  
She's the sun set shadows  
She's like Rembrandt's light  
She's the history that's made at night  
She's my lost companion  
She's my dreaming tree  
Together in this brief eternity  
Summer days, winter snows  
She's all things to behold  
  
So I wait  
And I try  
I confess like a child  
  
She's my kind of rain  
Like love from a drunken sky  
Confetti falling  
Down all night  
  
She's my kind of rain  
Oh, rain on me  
She's my kind of rain.  
  
They stayed after all the guests had gone and watched the sunrise in the Atrium. Angel watched her in wonder. She was his and she was meant to be his, since the beginning of time.  
Buffy couldn't help stare at him, her Angel. She knew now, this wasn't a dream. She couldn't have dreamed something this wonderful, this beautiful. She settled back in his arms, against his chest. His coolness surrounded her and it felt right. It felt like home. It had taken so long, and there had been so much pain along the way but finally, Buffy Summers had come home. 


End file.
